Scottish Fabrics Arriving

The world’s most durable and attractive wools and cashmeres hail from the British Isles, in my opinion. Now they are coming as part of a trade delegation to get their piece of the ever more gigantic China market.
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1727002007

As Chinese businessmen learn more about the art of fine dressing, they will demand that their suits be made from brands like Holland & Sherry and Johnstons of Elgin, both part of this delegation. It will be interesting to see whether brands like this can achieve even greater success than they have in Japan. I want to find out how to get hold of some of this fabric, also.

Lane Crawford Opens

Burberry Prorsum, YSL Rive Gauche, Dries Van Noten, Viktor and Rolf – boyz you can finally get their latest pieces right here in Beijing! For the more conservative types, there is a better selection of Pal Zileri, Armani, and Zegna than is even available in their rather patronizingly edited boutiques.

Ample champagne, beautiful clothes, and more stylish people than I have ever seen in one place – the Lane Crawford opening party was great fun and the pictures I will add over the next week will highlight this. Stay tuned for my review of the new store in the next That’s Beijing.

Before that, let me proclaim: the arrival of this store here is a revolution. Beijing at last hosts a well-curated treasury of global fashion’s top designs. China’s cultural center deserved a fashion emporium that matched its artistic spirit. It is here. Other retailers and many retail consultants underestimated the maturity of the market, thinking that designers could get away with offering a selection combining re-runs of old seasons, loud branded dross, and a whole load of Hugo Boss and Dunhill. The Beijing fashion consumer is more sophisticated than that, as Lane Crawford astutely realized. Should I be their chief of PR?

The men’s selection maximizes time and taste, two values essential to the global cognitive elite. Men can now find the most stylish pieces pieces on offer in the city on just two floors. It is better than anything in any of the single-brand boutiques or department stores here before.

Lane Crawford fills a gap and the nouveaus with the cash to shop there and not enough time to find a good tailor will have a big advantage. The problem in Beijing is that if you want off-the-rack apparel that combines quality with style, you can only turn to the expensive stuff or a tailor. There is no decent high-street, no consignment shops, and no discount shops like Filene’s Basement.

Much more on this to come.

Verdant Primate Lover

The greens are an attempt to evoke the natural environment for which he must long, since he has reentered the beige and gray fray of his hometown, Beijing. He attended university in Nicosia, of all places. A short Fiat ride from the city are a wider range of azure and emerald shades than could ever be imagined by any maker of fashion dyes.

Paul Frank is widely available in China, where it is produced. The Paul Frank logo can be found on socks selling for fifty cents in markets throughout Beijing. On a side note: my girlfiend just purchased a brown mat for our cat that bears the Yves Saint Laurent logo.

Frequent Changes – Stylites.net under construction

This website is in development and will eventually acquire a unique design, but will still be updated daily. I beg you to tolerate the inconsistency of the design of stylites.net for the time being. Please do not let this deter you from checking back regularly. The essence of stylites.net is in the photos and words as well as the enterprises we represent.

3.3 – Shopkeepers in the “Dior” and “Paul Smith” Emporium

3.3 is one of the many malls of Sanlitun, the formerly gritty and atmospheric, now increasingly malled-in section of Beijing. Despite the typically offensive structure in which it is housed, this mall offers a unique charm, since it is devoid of chain stores. The first floor features old-school Chinese gaudiness with the usual lace and glitter, but on the third floor is one of China’s few designer resale shops, specializing in apparel and accessories formerly used by celebrities. In the basement are some very cute craftsy places.

The forth floor is a twisted paradise of designer and trendy rags for men and the leading emporium of Chinese Paul Smith. Several stores specialize in shirts, bags, and ties in patterns and fabrics inspired by and using the label of the quirky British knight. The Paul Smith “replicas” are an excellent example of how Chinese counterfeiters go well beyond mere copying to actually imbibe the style of the original brand in their own new creations. Some of the Paul Smith “replicas” are of tolerable quality, though clearly not up to the original. As many Beijing fashionistas must be aware, “100% cotton” here tends to exhibit many of the, sweat-inducing, qualities of poly-blend fabrics after a few wearings, even if it does seem like cotton while on the rack. The fabric used for the Paul Smith dress shirts is, however, superior to that of the custom-made “100% cotton” shirts in Ya Xiu and Xiu Shui. Stay away from the fake Paul Smith shoes though, as the soles could bring orthopedic problems. More on fake Paul Smith later.


One of the more interesting shops catering to the designer clothing-addict without a trust fund is right and up from the escalator and offers Dior Homme, Yohji Yamamoto, Raf Simons, and other more cult (read: adored in Shibuya and appropriate for the Japanese physique) designer labels. Photographed here are the two shopkeepers. These replicas are produced in a Guangdong factory run by a Japanese man. Intended for export to Japan, some key samples nonetheless have surfaced in 3.3.


He goes by the name “Kele” – Chinese for coke (the drink) and hails from the great Northeast. Of course for Dsquared, you don’t need to go to 3.3, as it is more plentiful in Beijing than the Gap in suburbia.

Archives – May 2007

Square Tie [ edit ]

May 31 2007 (00:23:00) US/Pacific ( 19 views )

british

He was in a hurry and didn’t have much time to chat. This was right by the Xiehe Hospital on Dongdan. I think this fellow looks great though – picky but relaxed – studied disheveledness but not in a preppy way. Tie with sneakers rarely works. (0) Comments | Post Comment

Momentous Changes – Stylites.net [ edit ]

May 29 2007 (22:38:00) US/Pacific ( 26 views )

Stylites in Beijing will soon be moving to a permanent address: stylites.net. Before this move occurs, updates may be less frequent, so I ask you to bear with me. We have to try to make our new home stylish before moving in. It might be a sort of bohemian shack at first though.

Anyway, I will send notification when the next site is up and running.

(0) Comments | Post Comment

East Mianhua: Hutong Honey with Green Scarf [ edit ]

May 29 2007 (22:26:00) US/Pacific ( 16 views )

green scarf

Riding my bike out of the Candy Floss Cafe – one of Beijing’s best spots for sunny Sunday afternoon, I encountered this apparition. Judging by her gear, she is a much more serious photographer than I pretend to be. I adore women with colorful scarves. She was on her way to some kind of performance, apparently in the company of her mother.

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At the Alcohol Factory [ edit ]

May 25 2007 (01:32:00) US/Pacific ( 16 views )

breasts

This is my old friend Li Yuanli, an oil painter from Luoyang. I met him by the side of West Lake in Hangzhou. It was fate.

He was up visiting Beijing. We went to the art galleries at the Jiuchang (alcohol factory). This piece must be well-known.

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Retro Working Man [ edit ]

May 25 2007 (01:07:00) US/Pacific ( 14 views )

A fellow who lives on the tenth floor of my building. We met him in the elevator. I don’t know how he managed to evade me for the last thirteen months. Perhaps the only interesting looking individual in the entire several-thousand-man-strong residential complex.

retro

If you don’t live in China, you might not find this fellow exceptional.

But most of his contemporaries are extreme of dowdiness. They are pudgy little goons wearing brown polyester polo shirts with the playboy logo and sporting a comb-over and a pleather manbag. Styles like this just aren’t common in his generation.

IMG_3297

Here we have John Travolta’s Grease hair-do with a late ’80s “our country just opened to the West” Chinese swoosh. He bought this pair of flared jeans sixteen years ago and has been wearing them since. I told him I thought he must be an artistic type, and he responded that he was just a normal working man.
(0) Comments | Post Comment

Stylish Chinese Girl from the Countryside [ edit ]

May 22 2007 (03:45:00) US/Pacific ( 18 views )

Rating Yang Fan as an artist is beyond my ability, but her paintings admirably depict the young Chinese girl dominated by materialism and faintly understood Westernized values.

yang-fan-paintings-050

These are beautiful girls whose ideals for fashion, physique, and sexual expression changed drastically in the space of a few years.

Yang%20FanBathtub%20-%20400px

Life was service to family. It suddenly became the pursuit of pleasure.

yang%20fan%20paintings%20043-500px

These girls are much more stylish and attractive than the typical specimen you see just off the train at Beijing’s Central Station (right next to my work).

Yang Fan works can be viewed or purchased at the Linda Gallery. (0) Comments | Post Comment

Forgive the Colors [ edit ]

May 21 2007 (02:48:00) US/Pacific ( 18 views )

I’m having trouble figuring out the livedigital system. (0) Comments | Post Comment

Anglomania [ edit ]

May 21 2007 (01:42:00) US/Pacific ( 17 views )

british

A young shop assistant at the Muxiyuan Fabric market.

british

A young hipster on Chaonei Avenue. He described himself as a freelancer, but his two, less stylish, friends said that he doesn’t have a job. His main inspiration is Japanese youth fashion and he buys rags at Xidan.

british

I was the person to tell him the meaning of this. He didn’t appear disappointed. (0) Comments | Post Comment

Vic’s Has a New Location [ edit ]

May 17 2007 (06:59:00) US/Pacific ( 13 views )

I may not go. How could it possibly be as charming as the old Vic’s?

Really. Ignore the packaging for a moment. A place isn’t made so much by the decor and music as by the wit and beauty of its clientale. It was a place with men of style and women of substance.

It’s amusing to recall the image in my mind when I first heard of Vic’s.

My New York friend, who had never actually been himself, suggested I go since he had heard it was THE place for expats in Beijing.

I imagined a Bogartesque owner, named Vic, nursing a scotch or maybe even a mint julep while his gaze lingered on a lovely Danish photographer just back from the Onon river in Mongolia. There would be a North Korean propoganda movie director, really a spy, aiming to befriend gullible but lovable Midwesterners in derby hats. A Japanese diplomat, somehow blending stiffness with affability, would be stroking his Siamese cat as he spoke perfect French with an aspiring actress just off the plane from Paris, trying to hide that she was from a village outside Toulouse and not the capital. The wife of an unnamed but utterly powerful CCP official would be present, but no one would be sure which of the elegant ladies was her.

The movie is not incredible, but the bar Ralph Fiennes opens in the White Countess would be nice in reality. I thought Vics would be a bit like that bar, with all of its intrigues and glamour.

Instead I got six high school students doing shots, two Chinese girls snorting coke for the first time in the bathroom, and some skinny Long Islanders hanging out upstairs, humping all the new arrivals.

Comments

Funny~ I think I have been to Vics twice. I gotta say I prefer the place across the street.
Posted by Pescatore on 05/18/2007 02:06:28 AM

Pesci, you came to Beijing without contacting me?
Posted by stylites on 05/18/2007 02:51:50 AM

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Hair Cutting Man on Break [ edit ]

May 17 2007 (02:54:00) US/Pacific ( 17 views )

This man could be anywhere in China. They are the dark dandies of urban streets. The hair cutters. The men who dare prance. Long, slim, shoes are essential.

This is at Chaonei South Street. To see really over-the-top hair cutters, you should head to Hangzhou.

(0) Comments | Post Comment

Middle Class Guy in the Subway at Rush Hour [ edit ]

May 16 2007 (10:46:00) US/Pacific ( 20 views )

Despite the thousands of people switching trains at Fuxingmen, I still spotted this guy, beyond the wall.


He’s a petite bourgeois who owns a clothing store.


Quite an appropriate image for Tom Meaney’s birthday – no? They would totally be friends.

We can do blazers in this cut, too, but the quality of the fabric and buttons would be far superior. I’ll even perform a complimentary lip piercing for you.

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LVMH Buys Stake in Chinese Premium Footwear Retailer [ edit ]

May 15 2007 (06:26:00) US/Pacific ( 18 views )

It is planning an IPO and Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey will have a share:
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/05/14/047649.html

Meanwhile, Carlyle might buy into Valentino, as this mid-sized luxury goods company seeks to remain competitive against titans like LVMH: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117918281371802514.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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An Invesment Target [ edit ]

May 15 2007 (04:52:00) US/Pacific ( 18 views )


The price range is 60,000-80,000 euros. Let’s pool our resources and acquire this delectable morsel. Who is interested?

For more information (registration is required but free):

http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159357773

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Suspended at Capital Museum [ edit ]

May 15 2007 (02:19:00) US/Pacific ( 102 views )

All of a sudden, as I was walking out of the Willy Ronis photography exhibit at Beijing Capital Museum, everyone seemed to wearing suspenders. The thin suspenders with a tee shirt and skinny pants look was revived on the Dior Homme runway for the spring 2006 collection, but it has long been an emblem of various British rocker subcultures. The “skinheads” of Beijing adore prancing about in this style.


This fellow leads a band that frequently performs at the Nameless Highland. His shirt actually says “skinhead”, as do the tee-shirts of most Beijing skinheads.


This is the first woman I have seen in China wearing suspenders – and they are these very slim plaid ones. I noted that the dude that walked out of the exhibit right before her was also wearing suspenders, and she made clear that she had absolutely no connection with him and was following her own style muse. It was just a coincidence that there were two suspendered people walking out of the Willy Ronis exhibit at the same time. She is studying journalism and shops at Xidan mainly. She wanted my number.

Here shoes were in some ways more notable than her suspenders.

Below Hedi Slimane shows us that the thin suspenders look is best executed with a sleeveless shirt.

And white socks on display.

The two-tone shoes are also essential.

And a subtle cat reference in your trousers is never a minus. I tried to find a photo with a man wearing suspenders, but couldn’t, so here is the classic if you don’t recall Willy Ronis:

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One Size Fits Most [ edit ]

May 11 2007 (01:08:00) US/Pacific ( 14 views )

Has replaced “one size fits all” on many tee-shirts as waist-lines have expanded in the US.

(0) Comments | Post Comment

Chinese Consume More [ edit ]

May 08 2007 (08:31:00) US/Pacific ( 18 views )

China’s retail sales hit 320 billion yuan (42 billion U.S. dollars) during the May Day holidays, up 15.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry said liquid crystal TV sets, jewelry, digital cameras, and fashion clothes were among the bestsellers.

The whole problem is that they don’t consume enough and the economy depends on exports, meaning US consumption. Put simply, China runs into trouble when the US economy dips, as it could be doing now. In the United States, the contribution of domestic consumption to growth is over three times the contribution of exports. International trade matters more to China than it does to the US.

When the contribution of domestic consumption to GDP in China is doubled or tripled that of exports, many key parts of China will be under water. When all Chinese consume at an American level, there will be much less oxygen and dry land on the planet. But humans always evolve. To leapfrog ahead in their conceptual thinking, young Chinese fashion designers need to showcase mandarin collar tees with slits in the side for gills. What will be the fashion in our “submerged future with Chinese characteristics”?

Comments

grammar mistakes notwithstanding, the last paragraph is the best thing I have read all day
Posted by pescatore on 05/09/2007 06:38:32 AM

Uh…those are all for effect. Thanks.
Posted by stylites on 05/09/2007 07:58:49 AM

The future is Waterworld with Chinese characteristics? A cheesey place, no doubt.
Posted by stylites on 05/09/2007 08:00:29 AM

Excellent blog article. Is the man or woman on the street concerned about becoming a throwaway society? Or is China still far from discarding last year’s fashions? Are they thinking of building and renting “storage units” so people can box and store years of unused but accumulated shoes, clothes and cheap furniture? Or can they still ship such unwanted items to the Chinese countryside or sell and give away to Africa? The problem of overconsumption has incrimental ramifications. Not all are in the government domain.
Posted by khavurta on 05/11/2007 03:30:05 AM

Obviously the wealthy and those aspiring to seem wealthy have a great antipathy toward used items. I would assume that there is a reluctant market for them in the countryside and among the urban poor. Solutions to the problems caused by overconsumption can always be transferred into the government domain in the form of taxes. However, society seems to reject environmental/consumption taxes and government doesn’t want them because they curb growth (leading to unempolyment and instability). Our vicious cyclic addiction to growth cannot stop, meanwhile the cost of environmental degradation is never allowed to figure in. It’s more than just the environment – the cost of all things long term are irrelevant in the growth equation. But there is no point in being an irrational activist. There are reasons growth can’t stop. Well, in this way Europe seems to have a more durable model. It’s too bad demographics will forestall the development of a European century.
Posted by stylites on 05/11/2007 08:53:31 AM

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Stripey Legging Girls in Xidan [ edit ]

These leggings are a hot thing. Widening horizontal stripes are good for slim Chinese people and they are everywhere now. If you want a sailor or prison style shirt, come to China. They were out shopping with their two boyfriends, both owners of clothing shops nearby.

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Nike Releases China Edition [ edit ]

May 07 2007 (04:26:00) US/Pacific ( 16 views )

The Air Jordan 1 XQ China Edition will be available exclusively on the Chinese main June 1. Styling highlights include dragon inspired patterns, laser designs, and use of silk material.

A large demographic will rush to welcome this riveting new style with collectors hoarding the limited supplies of the original. To beat the lines, try fine boutiques in Xidan or 3.3 offering “replicas” in advance of the June 1 release date.

(0) Comments | Post Comment

Photographer at 798 [ edit ]

May 07 2007 (01:21:00) US/Pacific ( 23 views )

She is a photography student who was out with friends at 798 art district on Saturday.

No chance to ask for her inspirations. I’m going to get a camera like hers.

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Ankle in Uniform [ edit ]

May 01 2007 (14:00:00) US/Pacific ( 15 views )

Nearly every high school student in Beijing wears these pants, but I didn’t realize this when I saw the girl wearing them.

Standing in from of the Xiehe Hospital on Dongdan.

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Archives – April 2007

Hutong Hotshot [ edit ]

April 30 2007 (06:53:00) US/Pacific ( 15 views )

This fellow was looking tough in Nanzhugan Hutong: He buys his rags at Xidan. His shoes are also from Xidan, and are made, he reports, by the brand Adidas.

(0) Comments | Post Comment

We Want You [ edit ]

April 24 2007 (03:26:00) US/Pacific ( 22 views )

This is an artist from Qinhuangdao, in Hebei province. He was taking his daughter through the Long March Space at 798.

Do they support the troops?

(0) Comments | Post Comment

Shanghai Consumers: Government Forbids Consolation from Size Labels [ edit ]

April 24 2007 (03:19:00) US/Pacific ( 8 views )

It’s always reassuring to slip into a pair of size 32s when your waist measures 36. However, the Chinese government will not allow the common practice of brands understating the measurements of the waists on trousers:

http://www.securities.com/doc.html?pc=CN&doc_id=135033322&auto=1&query=fashion%3A&db=en_1y_d&hlc=zh&range=365&sort_by=Date

(0) Comments | Post Comment

C&A to Enter the One Trillion Dollar China Retail Market [ edit ]

April 24 2007 (03:00:00) US/Pacific ( 7 views )

C&A, the Netherlands based rival of H&M and Zara, is coming to Beijing and Shanghai this year.

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=consumerProducts&storyID=2007-04-20T070331Z_01_SHA337076_RTRIDST_0_SP_PAGE_016-SHA337076-OISCP.XML

They have no outlets in the US, perhaps because their style of clothing is not quite as “Euro-chic” as Zara, etc. They would run into direct competition with GAP. GAP is the world’s forth major fashion retail chain, and they still do not have plans to enter the China market. Maybe their clothes are too baggy for Chinese people, and it’s not worth producing a whole new line for this market.

In fact, it is interesting that all sources note that GAP has no presence in China, because up until two years ago there was a GAP as well as a Banana Republic (subsidiary of GAP) at the former Xidan Times Square, now called Maison Mode (and home to Gucci and other royalty). These two shops must have been operated through an agency. Maybe they were unsuccessful and that is why GAP is hesitant to enter this market.

To be frank, the style of C&A is a bit lame. That is not to say that it won’t catch on here, but I get the feeling that Chinese people really study the runway and hope to emulate its looks, hence the success of Zara. C&A may be competing with the likes of Baleno, JeansWest, Giordano and Metersbonwe – all distinguished local chains with a startlingly dull take on casual fashion.

Comments

“distinguished local chains with a startlingly dull take on casual fashion” Most if not all are HK chains IIRC?
Posted by Pescatore on 04/25/2007 02:34:04 AM

“distinguished local chains with a startlingly dull take on casual fashion” Most if not all are HK chains IIRC?
Posted by Pescatore on 04/25/2007 02:35:40 AM

Yeah, you’re actually right. But they still seem “local” in their sensibilities – maybe “local” meaning global boring-casual.
Posted by stylites on 04/26/2007 06:54:07 AM

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Alpha-Nerd [ edit ]

April 23 2007 (08:39:00) US/Pacific ( 4 views )

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Quote of the Day [ edit ]

April 23 2007 (08:32:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )

“To appear well dressed, be skinny and tall.” — Mason Cooley

Being handsome helps, too.

Look below for the daily photos.
(0) Comments | Post Comment

True Craftsmanship Cannot be Transferred to Beijing [ edit ]

April 23 2007 (02:22:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )

At least not until haute couture runway shows come here:

“You can’t get emergency touchups from the workshop to the runway in a matter of minutes when you’re in Beijing.” Read the rest: http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=73911.

What remains of the hand-crafted couture in Paris.

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Hutong Hottie [ edit ]

April 23 2007 (01:42:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )

This guy is working with limited resources, on several fronts (money, exposure to global fashion trends, transport beyond feet and tricycle, etc.).

However, there is something about the eagerness to pose, and the swagger of this young fellow that made him Irresistible. I wish every stylish person was walking in front of this blue barrier, since it is a nice backdrop. This is just the type of person I would like to find more often. If you live here in China, his spirit and style might be old news, but I believe that this sort of attempt should be documented.

He was in front of a construction site in the hutongs south of Pingan Dajie. I would recommend a walk through that area as soon as possible.

I wonder if he would be interested in making a suit.

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Guess Opens in Shanghai; Guess Girl is Chinese [ edit ]

April 20 2007 (01:44:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )

Guess is opening its first store on the mainland tonight:

“Tonight, a grand inauguration party will be held at the Infiniti Mall on Huaihai Road M., where Guess opens its Shanghai flagship store, celebrating the American denim pioneer’s official landing on the vast Chinese market – that’s why Marciano is on his second trip to the city.

The company plans to open about 30 stores in China by the end of this year, 13 in Shanghai, 11 in Beijing, three in Hong Kong and a few more in Macau. The number is expected to expand to 55 by the end of 2008.”

Read the rest:

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200704/20070420/article_313275.htm

The new Guess girl (Anna Nicole Smith launched her career by being a Guess girl) is going to be Chinese.

The article doesn’t mention that fake Guess products are already widely available on the mainland, but they are right to be sanguine about success here. The Guess look seems well-adapted to local style sensibilities. Guess’ cheaply baroque sexiness will have many takers. It will also help if they made sure to pick a Guess girl with big double-fold eyes.

“Guess” gets 16810 hits on taobao. I’m not certain that all of these are attempting to be the Guess that we know and love from the States, but the samples I have looked at seem to be.

http://search1.taobao.com/browse/0/t-95—————–g,m52wk43t—————-40-list-commend-0-all-0.htm

Comments

Alright then, maybe 1 store in Plaza 66, one store in Huaihai, 1 store in Xintiandi, 1 store in Xujiahui… ok that i could see… but 13-stores-is-a-fricken-lot when you are dealing with a market that is full of fakes and has minimal consumer differentiation is it not? Maybe I missed something? Why do I think this decision was made with the help of large amounts of yay and bubbly?
Posted by namrehsif on 04/20/2007 04:15:52 AM

Yeah, I hadn’t really reflected on that. And this is supposed to be by the end of this year. Hahaha. So guess would be the major foreign apparel chain in China after that. Hmmmm. Of all of the major US chains, it actually seems closest in style to the glitzy dross that most Chinese women already wear, so why would they pay extra for a somewhat mediocre brandname?
Posted by stylites on 04/20/2007 04:28:42 AM

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France’s “Social Marxist culture.”

April 19 2007 (07:30:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )
Last week, François Pinault, one of France’s richest men and the head of PPR, the world’s second largest luxury conglomerate after LVMH, denounced what he called France’s “Social Marxist culture.”

It’s not suprising that he or other CEOs would say this, as they relocate their production lines to China. I believe the French are the only electorate that understands what globalization means for citizens of the developed world.

Comments

It’s dated 1 January ’04? I am surprised those boots didnt make a bigger splash in the Paris of the East, which has a fairly solid track record of being obsessed with all things LV…maybe the colour being different threw things out of whack…
Posted by namrehsif on 04/19/2007 10:49:48 AM

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Shanghai Tang Attempts to Make it in the Motherland [ edit ]

April 18 2007 (05:34:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )


Chinese luxury good consumers will only wear Mandarin Collars after they are seen on Western fashion luminaries, according to this:

http://www.businessweek.com/print/globalbiz/content/apr2007/gb20070417_585340.htm

That is just one piece in the enigmatic puzzle that is the taste of Chinese consumers.

Comments

Interesting article. My first thought is that, in most cases, ‘China inspired fashion’ doesn’t sell in China. In the PRC, one tends to occasionally see ‘old chinese style’ ma gua and qipao stuff, and then there is also the communist-era clothing. The first style tends to make everyone look as though they are either someone going to a wedding, an idiot foreigner going out for a friday night on a dive bar street, or possibly, in the case of a qipao, a restaurant hostess, and I think that right now (speaking with regard to Shanghai), no self respecting person would wear such things on the high street in the light of day. The second type of ‘Chinese’ clothing one also tends to see are the post-revolution big bulky jackets, workmen’s hats and cloth shoes. Once again, no young trendy person (in Shanghai) would wear such things, as they are generally the garb of those 60 and older and physical laborers. Something along the same vein that I have seen as being popular with a certain type of college student is the ‘Wei Renmin Fuwu’ messenger bag/’Comrade Lei Feng’ T-shirt, but again most self respecting people will not wear such things. In closing I would say that Shanghai Tang is probably taking the right tack by using subtle rather than over the top Chinese inspiration for their clothes…good luck to them in making it work in the mainland.
Posted by namrehsif on 04/19/2007 02:53:48 AM

one addendum to the above: PLA green overcoats are awesome
Posted by namrehsif on 04/19/2007 02:57:01 AM

I would love to open a larger discussion of how Chinese fashion influences (and enters) mainstream global fashion. There are so many ways. What the commenter above says about the need to be subtle is on target. I would add to that by saying that the concept is important rather than the details. Collections that capture the essence of “Chineseness” are more successful than those that blatantly pick up Chinese elements like the collar or the tired old pop references to communism. Those collections that use poems, philosophical tracts, and paintings as inspiration for the ethos they are creating tend to be more aesthetically pleasing.
Posted by stylites on 04/19/2007 05:33:47 AM

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Qinghua Goth Princess [ edit ]

April 16 2007 (07:56:00) US/Pacific ( 5 views )


No angst, no evil, no frustration – these are not rebellious youths trying to shed darkness on their society. These were typical upbeat Qinghua girls eager to show off their English skills and their unique take on fashion.

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A Day of Sophisticated Drinking on the Lake [ edit ]

April 16 2007 (07:49:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )

I brought back this bottle from France:

Here it is sitting by a haw, fruit-roll-up. You probably know about Vin de Pays. This particular bottle cost 79 Euro cents. According to Yuanyuan it tasted like its price, but I thought it was fine. Her senses of sight, taste, and smell are all more refined than mine though.

My sense of inebriation was alright. Which is classier the wine or my way of drinking it?

The obligatory crash into college girls out for a Sunday boat ride followed…But it wasn’t captured on film.

The walk around Beihai was nice.

This was a random girl walking through Beihai. She apparently comes through the park every Sunday to burn incense by an unmarked patch of grass where her great-great-grandmother is said to be buried. This woman was the court quicksand maker during the reign of Emperor Xianfeng.

And I left Beihai, not having offended the spirits of the court eunuchs in any truly unforgivable ways.

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Luxury Brands Secretly move production to China [ edit ]

April 16 2007 (02:38:00) US/Pacific ( 5 views )

China’s global luxury brand workshop
By Olivia Chung

HONG KONG – Don’t be surprised if you find the Prada, Armani or Burberry products you are wearing are made in China. Goods “Made in China” are no longer limited to cheap, low-end products. More and more brand-name luxury consumer goods are made in this “world’s workshop”, largely because of growing domestic demand as more and more Chinese can afford them.

According to a report by the World Luxury Association, more and more brand-name luxury goods are shifting their production to China. It expects that 60% of the world’s luxury brands will have
their products made in the country by 2009.

“This will be largely driven by the booming demand for luxury products by consumers in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in China,” Ouyang Kun, representative of the association in China, was quoted as saying in China Daily.

He said the demand for such products in China was increasing by 15% annually. At present, the demand for luxury goods in China has already surpassed the manufacturing capacity of European makers by about 60%; therefore, they have had to shift their production to China, where labor and other costs are relatively low. In addition, this saves them the cost of shipping.

Sales in China’s luxury market hit US$2 billion in 2004, making it the world’s third-largest consumer of luxury goods, after Japan and the United States, according to a report by Ernst & Young. The report predicts that the market will grow by 20% each year until 2008 and then 10% annually to 2015, when sales are expected to exceed $11.5 billion.

Au Kin-fan, associate director of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Institute of Textiles and Clothing, said seeing their competitors, one after another, shifting production to China’s low-cost environment to maximize profit forced other luxurious-goods makers to follow suit.

“However, foreign manufacturers usually shift part of their production line to China to cater for the growing demand there and keep their production bases in their home countries or other places to meet the global demand,” he said.

Foreign luxury-goods manufacturers started to shift part of their production line to China in 2004, and products made in China with foreign labels have flooded the Chinese market since 2005, said Ouyang: “Some luxury brands claim all of their products are made at home, but 60% of them are actually made in China.”

So far a number of fashion brands have gone public about shifting their production to China or have announced plans to do so. They include Pierre Cardin, Burberry, Armani, Prada and Furla.

The Chinese media have reported that French fashion brand Louis Vuitton plans to set up a production base in Zhejiang province this year. However, Janie Zhuang, public relations executive at Louis Vuitton China, said the firm does not produce any products in China at this time, nor does it have any plan to do so in the near future.

Au said one of the reasons for the international fashion brands keeping a low profile when shifting their production to China is the negative image of goods “Made in China”, which are often regarded as low-cost, low-quality products.

To avoid the possible negative impact on the brand value of their products, foreign manufacturers proceed with caution even if they shift only part of their production to China. For instance, their Chinese partners are assigned to produce mid-end products, or products made in China are sold under other brand names.

However, as globalization progresses, it’s not surprising to see a growing number of goods being made in more than one country before being put on the market. The nationality of a brand no longer has much to do with where the product is made.

Patrizio Bertelli, chief executive of Prada, has said that if his firm’s products were made in 10 countries, they should be labeled “Made by Prada” to give the brand the freedom to produce wherever it was thought appropriate.

This is because the most important aspects are design, quality and marketing – the production can take place anywhere, Au explained.

Au said more and more brands will relocate part of their production to China as other markets become saturated. Famous brands are struggling with a dilemma: the temptation to cut costs by shifting production to China and the sense of exclusivity that customers demand.

“Due to historical factors, it will take a long time for consumers to change their perception of the ‘Made in China’ label to a positive concept of being highly desirable from the existing perception of substandard quality,” Au said.

Before China began its market-economy reforms, factory workers were paid equally and there were no bonuses or rewards for superior performance, so whether the products were good or not did not matter to them, which led to serious quality problems. This attitude toward quality still persists to some degree.

According to China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, of about 9,000 goods that its quality inspectors sampled in the first six months of last year, 78% were found to comply with the relevant safety rules.

“To enable luxury brands with the ‘Made in China’ label to be well received, China needs stricter quality-control procedures, not to mention better technical and management skills,” Au said. “Quality control is key in every market.”

To illustrate how important quality control is, Au cited as examples some products of well-known fashion houses Armani, MaxMara, Burberry and Ermenegildo Zegna that failed to pass a quality inspection in China last year.

“This not only tells us that high price may not necessarily link to high quality, but also that international fashion makers are adopting a double standard when marketing their products in different countries,” he said.

“As China and other new and emerging countries for the fashion brands are only the mid-end markets, in order to capture a bigger market share, they mass produce and sell the products at not-so-high prices, so the brand products are of not-so-good quality,” he said.

However, Au stressed that where human health is concerned, the international brands should not employ a “double standard”.

In an examination carried out by the Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce last year, brands’ dresses, suits, coats and pants were found to be substandard. Problems included high levels of formaldehyde, a chemical that can cause cancer, unacceptable acid levels and poor dyes.

In addition to quality-control measures initiated by manufacturers themselves, China’s authorities should also improve health and safety regulations for all kinds of consumer products, which could help improve the average quality of the country’s exports and transform the “Made in China” image into something desirable, Au said.

As the major brands outsource production to almost every corner of the world, quality control could be a problem, so there is a need to increase consumer awareness of the need to make the right choices when shopping.

As for the “Made in China” label, Au said many makers of international brand-name products flocking to China in recent years have been quite satisfied with Chinese firms’ quality of production, reliability and management. It is, he said, time for the world’s consumers to take a new look at the “Made in China” label.

“With more overseas tourists coming to China, they will learn more about the great progress the country has been making and [have more] confidence in products made in China,” he said.

Olivia Chung is a senior Asia Times Online reporter.

Comments

Ha, Ha, I told you less than 6 mos ago that China would be producing high end goods because now they have the skills and the market is there too. You are right to want to be paid in yuan.
Posted by khavurta on 04/17/2007 01:20:51 AM

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Mary Ching Yeung [ edit ]

April 12 2007 (07:35:00) US/Pacific ( 6 views )

Stepping out in snakeskin heels

Bold young designer Alison Mary Ching Yeung launched pricey “made-in-China” shoes named called “Imperial Funk,” all with purple leather soles. Snakeskin high heels are trimmed with mink – Yeung calls them “lush, powerful, yet fragile,” writes Michelle Zhang

Purple is Alison Mary Ching Yeung’s favorite color. The half-English, half-Chinese young lady wears no makeup, but has streaked her fringes purple.

According to Yeung, purple was the imperial color of the Chinese emperor, and represents opulence and decadence. The mysterious color, a combination of blue and red, is prevalent in the shoe designer’s first collection for autumn and winter: All the leather soles are purple. And she has named it “Imperial Punk.”

A capsule collection of 16 styles of sexy, glamorous shoes captures the eye immediately, possibly the soul, and perhaps eventually the wallet, when people step into the young designer’s spacious studio on Wulumuqi Road S.

“I started the collection drawing on scrolls and rice paper using ink,” she says. “I have been collecting imagery of Chinese emperors, lotus shoes, ceramics and furniture while absorbing the architecture and daily life in Shanghai. Then I contrasted the research with a fascination with punk fashion and pop art.”

Bearing the label “Mary Ching,” they come from a dark, plain palette of black, slate gray, chocolate brown and China red with exquisite and playful details.

For example, inspired by the penny loafer, the “Mao Loafer” is studded with Chinese one-jiao coins. A pair of simple flats is decorated with letters but when the right and left are placed side by side, they read “Shanghai.”

Yeung’s personal favorite is the “Empress Pearl,” a pair of fancy high-heels of snakeskin trimmed with mink. “Lush, powerful yet fragile,” she calls them.

Prices, however, range from US$260 to US$750, quite expensive for a starter in the industry. The 28-year-old is confident and ambitious: “I want to create the first international luxury shoe brand that is ‘made in China.”

She also wants to correct people’s association of the “made-in-China” label with shoddy, inferior products.

In fact, the “Mary Ching” brand philosophy is based on the belief that there will be a shift in perspective over the next 10 to 15 years towards a positive concept of “made in China” being highly desirable.

“People always presume that things ‘made in China’ are of poor quality, which is not true,” she says. “All my shoes are hand-made in China. When people see my collection, they are amazed by the quality.

“More and more luxury productions are reallocating to China and the customer is becoming more aware of this trend,” she adds.

The idea is to create shoes that combine the Asian aesthetic and European styles, using the finest materials from Italy and the local market, and are made with the top craftsmanship in China.

Yeung moved to Shanghai a year and a half ago as she saw vast possibilities in the market.

“Since I was a little girl, I have always dreamed of having my own fashion label one day,” she recalls. “So here I am now, working on fashion and following my dream.

“I think Shanghai is such an exciting city that the future of fashion is here,” she continues. “It is unlike any other major cities such as Paris, London and New York, where the fashion scene has already been established.”

And with white- and gold-collar income booming, she says, people are more likely to spend on brands and quality.

A graduate of the University of London’s King’s College in Business Management and Central Saint Martin’s in Fashion Design, Yeung understands both fashion and business. Not only has she worked with leading designers such as Julian Mcdonald, Hussein Chalayan and Ozwald Boateng, but she also worked as an investment associate at a London-based private equity firm, where she focused on the fashion industry.

The hard-working entrepreneur is meeting with interested buyers these days and has already framed a solid business development plan.

According to the plan, the “Mary Ching” label will be officially launched in September in the city. She plans to distribute it nationwide and expand gradually to other parts of Asia. The long-term plan is to bring the label back to her roots in UK and maybe one day to present it in United States. “I would like to create a ‘Chingdom’ one day,” she says, giggling.

Comments

Sounds tacky, but I guess you would have to see the goods to make a real decision. Will it sell? I don’t think I could see a person who can afford to pay $250 and up for a pair of shoes purchasing a pair of shoes covered with 1-jiao coins.
Posted by namrehsif on 04/12/2007 08:13:22 AM

You can get a quick glimpse of the “Imperial Punk” collection on Mary Ching’s website: http://www.marychingshanghai.com Personally, I can only say that I envy this designer’s obvious confidence and optimism. Some people are born with both qualities – a blessing in disguise sometimes.
Posted by Y Y on 04/13/2007 08:04:05 AM

YY seems to always leave subtly clever comments.
Posted by stylites on 04/13/2007 08:07:38 AM

and thanks for the link. This designer’s attitude has the key elements of success for young sino-foreign entrepreneurs making it in the new China.
Posted by stylites on 04/13/2007 08:11:18 AM

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Sock Source in Shanghai [ edit ]

April 11 2007 (02:02:00) US/Pacific ( 2 views )

Guess I will be going to Shanghai to get my colorful socks…

H&M hits Shanghai

(Shanghaidaily.com)
Updated: 2007-04-10 11:33

While Asians crave designer labels – often the name over the product – Swedish giant H&M successfully offers low-cost fashion for everyone. And it has just moved to China to prove that consumers are the same everywhere. Are they?


This undated photo shows two pedestrians pass by a big poster of Swedish giant H&M in Shanghai.[Photo:shanghaidaily.com]Asia is about to change,” declares Swedish fashion giant H&M as it finally expands to Asia – Shanghai next week – bringing its style of cheap and chic that has come to be accepted and admired by millions in Europe and America.

The Stockholm-based cut-price retailer opened its first store on the world’s most densely populated continent a month ago in Hong Kong. It opens two stores in Shanghai this month.

One store opens next Thursday in the former Benetton building on Huaihai Road M. and the other at the Superbrand Mall in Pudong on April 26.

But the big launch party for Asia and China will be in Shanghai next Wednesday night – not in Hong Kong.

Asia is known for its taste for luxury and designer brands among young professionals, but H&M hopes to change that, or at least hopes that the wardrobes for Asian men, women, teens and children will include a wide selection of its stylish apparel.

The H&M message is that trendy, stylish and tasteful doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

“We believe that design is not a matter of price,” says Rolf Eriksen, CEO of H&M. “Our fashion is created for everyone.”

However, the launch party is clearly not for everyone. Coveted tickets to the event at Pudong’s Science and Technology Museum are sought by every fashion enthusiast in town.

Unlike Zara, which celebrated its flagship store opening in a rather low-key way, H&M plans to throw a huge, one-of-a-kind party. Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue has been invited to make her debut on the Chinese mainland, promoting “H&M loves Kylie,” a limited beachwear line.

According to Eriksen, H&M spends about three percent of its annual turnover on advertisements in one market.

From the amount of money the company is going to spend on the party – and what it has spent on the gigantic billboards suddenly flooding the city – its expectation for the Chinese market is obvious.

“China is a strategic and exciting market with great fashion awareness and spending power,” he says.

“We therefore see a vast potential for expansion.”

As one of the world’s leading apparel retailers, H&M has chosen China to lead its development in Asia.

Apart from its first store in Hong Kong and two in Shanghai, another three will open in Hong Kong by the end of the year. The first store in Japan will open in Tokyo in 2008.

“Looking into the future, we think it’s necessary to enter new markets,” says CEO Erikson. “We chose Hong Kong and Shanghai because we are familiar with the two cities, where we have our production offices present for 30 years and 25 years respectively.

“It’s a big step for us to enter the Far East,” he continues. “The Asian market is huge. It could be one of the key markets for H&M in the future. However, we prefer to start slowly and plan carefully for further expansions.”

He says the company has learned a lot in the US market, where it opened its first emporium on Fifth Avenue in New York City seven years ago. The Manhattan store was such a success that the company thought it could open much bigger stores in the US than in Europe.

“We did make some mistakes with the US market at the very beginning,” he says.

“The stores we opened at that time were too big, which brought about problems. We changed our strategies and have also gradually learned how to operate long distance business from the US market.”

The ideal development mode in China would be operating a couple of stores to collect necessary market information first.

Shanghai, or “China’s Paris” as Eriksen puts it, will be the center. The company will consider moving to other cities after the Shanghai market is established.

“We are not in a rush,” the CEO emphasizes. “The most important thing is to make sure that Chinese customers like H&M. We believe that fashion behavior is the same all over the world, be it Paris or New York, Hong Kong or Shanghai.”

H&M, the second-largest clothing retailer in Europe, will compete in the surging local retail market with Spain’s Zara and Mango, Germany’s C&A as well as a raft of local brands such as the Hong Kong-based Esprit.

“Just like fashion, competition is worldwide,” Eriksen says. “Every time we enter a new country, there will be local competitors and worldwide competitors.

“Our business idea is to offer the customers fashion and quality at the best price. We understand the customers would like to see our competitors around us. It’s up to them to judge which they prefer.”

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A Radio Star [ edit ]

April 06 2007 (10:11:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )

Last Monday, Benny from Beijing Radio’s English language service interviewed me about this blog. The interview will be on air between 8pm and 8:30pm on Monday (4/9) and Tuesday (4/16).

The frequency is am774.

You can also listen to it on the website: www.bjradio.com.cn. Click on 外语广播 on the blue board that is toward the right side of the page.

I had the honor of being the first interviewee in this series on foreigners based in Beijing who blog.

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Online Paul Smith Report [ edit ]
April 05 2007 (05:02:00) US/Pacific ( 2 views )

On US ebay, there are 534 entries for “Paul Smith” in Men’s Clothing, accessories, and shoes. I believe that many of the items selling here are fakes or over-production made in China.

On Taobao.com, China’s premier online retail site, there are 15,729 entries for “Paul Smith” in the same categories. Almost all of these entries are for multiple items – that is you can pick the size, style, etc.

Needless to say there are far more retail points at which Paul Smith products can be purchased in the US than in China.

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Erguotou in Paris, Part 2 [ edit ]

April 03 2007 (02:20:00) US/Pacific ( 3 views )

In a city with such fine wines, I still chose what I know and hate. I need more of a kick to take me through a day of sightseeing.

I think this came out alright.

Yuanyuan made a lovely dinner in our cute little flat in Les Halles. Sancerre is a very common but good white wine in France. It is impossible to find it here so I brought several bottles back in my luggage.

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Xiao’er Takes Paris, Part 1 [ edit ]

April 02 2007 (06:59:00) US/Pacific ( 2 views )

Finally, the newest Erguotou series from Paris.

Xiao’er before Notre Dame

Xiao’er & Jardin Luxembourg

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