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Vega Wang

Photo by Teresa Yeh

Here is Vega Wang at the opening party (for media) of her first storefront/workshop in Beijing’s Jianwai Soho. Hers is one of the first freestanding boutiques opened by a local fashion designer. This womanswear shop is a must-see for visitors and locals alike as it is a rare example in Beijing of a creative, pleasant, interior design combined with a 100% locally conceived and produced brand. The workshop is on the other side of the fitting room, but the master cutter in the back room is disciplined enough not to peep in on any of the beautiful clients for whom he custom makes dresses.

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Details Count for Vega

Photos by Teresa Yeh

Just count the details. Fashion designer Vega Zaishi Wang thoughtfully considers the tasteful little touches in all parts of her life including music, elixirs, and of course the cuts of the garments she creates. This 1930s radio, produced in Shanghai by a company called Panda, and the other decor in her first Jianwai Soho shop, just opening this week, are a testament to her quirky, distinctive style. The well-curated, compact space is comfortable and airy with high ceilings resulting from gutting of the second floor.

日前，毕业于伦敦中央圣马丁艺术设计学院的中国新锐独立设计师，王在实Vega Wang，在北京建外Soho，开设了第一家其自主品牌的精品店。店内的精巧设计与装潢，就像她的手工成衣一样，显现出她本人精灵古怪、独具风格的特色。当北京的众多时装店还在用古董和各种混杂不堪的装饰时，Vega却用古雅别致的装潢托显出其设计品的时尚与前卫。老式缝纫机、悬于窗上的木质品、以及排列在长凳上的各色线轴，都激发着顾客们想在这里定制服装的欲望。

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Retro’s Spokewoman 复古的代言人

Peipei and boyfriend Pang Kuan (the keyboardist for New Pants) own the shop on Nanluoguxiang called Bye Bye Disco and just opened a bar right off the street by the same name. They are actually having a series of after-parties there this weekend. I spoke with Pei Pei about her retro, the Nanluoguxiang area and other subjects.

NF: What are some of the changes you have seen recently in how young people dress?

孙配配跟男朋友庞宽（新裤子的钢琴家）开了一个小店在南锣鼓巷叫Bye Bye Disco。他们这个周末会开些party。我最近采访了她。

NF:看到哪些变化在年轻人穿着？
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Style Revolution 时尚革命

Saturday (4/24) at 4pm, Lane Crawford is holding an event with Grazia that is part of the ongoing “Style Revolution”. There’s going to be a style competition, for which I will be photographing. I hope that you can make it.

明天是连卡佛举行的“时尚革命”专属购物周末活动。下午4：00-6：00是个机会跟《红秀GRAZIA》的主编及时尚总监会面。我也会帮他们做节拍比赛。希望你们能来。

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如洗 Suede Captoes

Mo Lian is one of the owners of Ruxi, a cute little shop on Xiao Ju’er Hutong, just off of Nanluoguxiang. Here is their taobao store.

如洗是个可爱的店在小菊儿胡同，墨莲是老板之一。店的特点是亚麻的衣服和这样的翻皮鞋。你可以参观一下他们淘宝上的店。

On the whole, I favor more feminine styles on women. However, I also like touches of classic menswear and am particularly fond of women wearing classic captoes like these suede ones. Anyway, this type of shoe is one of the specialty’s of Ruxi. At the moment they only have up to size 39, so the most likely clients are indeed those who were born female.

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Vivian Ying of Cocoon

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Vivian Ying (应翠剑）is the designer for Cocoon, which was my favorite of the shows I’ve seen so far at China Fashion Week. Here she is right before entering the Qi Gang show. From lovely Hangzhou, she also designs several other labels. Here she is wearing not one of her own designs; the sport coat is from Balmain, as can be seen from the shoulders.

See her whole SS10 collection at Yoka.com.

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Elisabeth Koch in A Small Magazine

Elisabeth Koch was interviewed in A Small Magazine. I didn’t realize that Hu Jintao’s niece was one of her clients. That sounds like a story.

She had her first big fashion show last weekend at Lan Club. I was there but one of my friends fainted and I had to carry her out, so I missed the show.

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Cola’s Coffee

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On my second trip to No. 46, I noticed a spacious new coffee shop just to the left of the main gate. Cola is proprieter of just opened Charity Share (益飨), which specializes in fair trade coffee and includes a fashion boutique in its loft.

因为咖啡够好，其实喝咖啡是外国人的传统
中国人很少能品出这个咖啡好不好
而且我们做fairtrade，其实外国人比较懂，因为从英国开始的，从欧洲开始的
他们会认，而且他们理念里会有要和fairtrade coffe这个概念
第三，我们的桌子椅子大部分都比较硬
中国人可能怕硬，但是我的很多外国客人喜欢坐硬的地方

She says Charity Share is the first bar or coffee shop in China to make promoting the public good its main theme. Her coffee shop is also the first in Beijing to receive a Certification Mark from the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International. A portion of all profits will go to charities and the high-ceiled, roomy space will host numerous NGO fundraising events, auctions, etc.

Initially, she expects foreigners will be the main clients as they are both more picky about the quality of coffee and familiar with the concept of free trade products. Amusingly, she says the hard seats are another reason why foreigners will be more attracted to Charity Share than Chinese, who prefer softer seating.

Originally from Xinjiang, Cola came to Beijing in 1999 and studied Chinese at Beijing Normal University. In 2006, she received her Master’s in marketing from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She quit her media job in May to focus all of her energy on the new coffee shop. Her recent interest in being more civic-minded has improved her mindset a great deal. She is now more able to be contented with her situation and less aggressive. Interestingly, one cup of coffee a day is her maximum. Any more and her heart beats too fast.

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Dior F/W in Beijing

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Dior released its fall collections here in Beijing today at Nanxincang. This young Hunanese lady was wearing a cute Dior dress from the current spring collection. She was determined that I must not mention her name or position.


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Mr. X at Muxiyuan

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I never know who I might run into at a shirting shop. Xander Zhou (also here) shouldn’t need much introduction to viewers of Stylites. Among the most well-known Beijing-based menswear designers, Xander studied in the Netherlands and his brand sells internationally. For more information about him check out JC Report, an interview with him at Dazed Digital, and a Time Out London piece on “Beijing Heroes” where Xander ranks with Ai Weiwei and Gia (also been on stylites).

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Super VC at Burberry

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Beijing brit-rock band Super VC is a fan of Burberry and enthusiastically welcomes the new store. Burberry Creative Director Christopher Bailey came to Beijing for a single day to attend the opening and I gave him a Stylites pocket square, which he found a bit surprising. In the Jinbao Place Shopping Mall, also home to Gucci, Buttega Veneta, Vertu, and the Swank, mentioned in the post before, this new outlet on Jinbao Street is Burberry’s sixth and largest store in Beijing. Someone evidently has a plan to make Jinbao street into Beijing’s answer to Madison Avenue or Via Spiaggia. Jinbao street also has the Peninsula hotel, and its shopping mall, the Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club Clubhouse, dealers for Maserati, Ferarri, and Bugatti, as well as the subtly designed Legendale hotel, which could have been the brain-child of Harrod’s owner Mohamed al-Fayed.

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On both sides of the roped-off entry to the shop were standing some spectators from the neighboring hutong. As it turns out, the lady in red crocs worked as a seamstress until retiring in her forties. She doesn’t expect to ever enter the Burberry shop, despite its proximity to her home, but maybe she could get a helping with alterations? I wonder what she thinks of the Legendale.

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H&M in Beijing

CNN reports on H&M’s arrival here. Hopefully for my Swedish brethren (my father is Swedish), the crowds will keep coming. Beijingers remain in dire need of the inexpensive basics H&M provides, so prospects look good. The product mix looked quite complete.

Success will not be a result of location. Around 300 meters down the vacant lots of the main walking street at recently refurbished Qianmen and a good ten minutes from the subway exit, one can only conclude that H&M received an incredible deal on rent. There are no similar fashion boutiques in the area and most pre-H&M foot traffic was domestic tourists. Either H&M realized these people have an even more dire need for their goods or the landlords gave free rent for the year.