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This young lady from Jiangsu is studying shoe design. This is her first trip to Beijing and she really enjoyed it, though she barely left the area around Gulou and Nanluoguxiang. The rest of the city is rather revoltingly modern and homogeneous. 从江苏来的女孩在学鞋设计。这是她第一次来北京。她觉得很好-几乎没有离开南锣鼓巷和鼓楼那块。
I encountered Ritchie right outside the tents at Bryant Park. Born in Xiamen, he now lives in LA and reports on fashion week for the Chinese website called M.Style. He also has a studio in LA called Triple Major. One project he has worked on recently is called Project White Tshirt, which brought 31 designers from 13 countries together to transform the basic white t-shirt. This is now on exhibition tour and will land in Beijing this fall and be at UCCA. The pieces will be auctioned to support Designers Against Aids. Interestingly, Ritchie was profiled by the site Stylelikeu that just interviewed Jeffrey and me. I interviewed Ritchie in Chinese: 在纽约时装周采访了Ritchie。他是创意机构Triple-Major的创办人，也在M世代杂志写专栏。他在厦门出生，香港长大，现在在洛杉矶居住。 S:从时尚和穿着来说美国和中国有什么区别？美国年轻人面对潮流，名牌等会跟中国年轻人有区别吗？ S: 你觉得哪些大陆的服装设计师在国外会最受欢迎？ S: 哪些中国现代文化作品（电影，音乐，等等）应该被国外的人-尤其是美国人-关注？ S: 经常来北京吗？你对这个城市的潮流，穿着，等等有什么影响？你最喜欢北京哪些商店，餐厅，酒吧等等？ S: 你以后想长期住在美国，香港还是中国大陆？为什么？
Recently, Men’s Bazaar presented its awards for the most tasteful/successful men (《芭莎男士》主办的中国品位成功年度人物颁奖盛典) at the National Stadium. It was a great chance to see the water cube and bird’s nest again. They were quite lit up. The event boasted a huge array of billionaires and celebrities like otherworldly Ali Baba Founder Ma Yun (马云), Yintai Investment CEO Shen Guojun (沈国军), actor Sun Honglei (孙红雷), billionaire entrepreneur and software engineer Shi Yuzhu (史玉柱) – a fellow that looks like he controls several gangs of Jersey-based crooks - and countless others. This young designer from London, here for a few months, was one of the guests. Sorry for the time lag in my posts. My time has been surprisingly limited recently.
Vega Zaishi Wang is a designer now based in Beijing’s Jianwai SOHO. Born in Liaoning, she studied in London for several years and operated a studio in Xiamen. Learn more about her and view her collections at her website. Her brand is called Sforzando. Vega的工作室在北京的建外SOHO. 她在伦敦学过时尚设计. 可以看她的设计在这里. 她的服装品牌叫Sforzando。
As mentioned, Li Xiaoyan won the gold prize for the best spring/summer collection at China Fashion Week 2009. She gave me the scarf after the photo, which was taken in her studio. Born in Taipei, Miss Li arrived on the Mainland in 1994. She has designed for a whole range of labels before her current one, Fangfang, and the focus is on 100% cotton and natural colors. 拍完照，2009时装周最佳设计师李小燕小姐把她在图片里戴的围巾很大方地送了我让我永远记住她这次时装周的装秀。她在台北出生长大的，1992毕业于台北暨南大学文学院，1994到了广东。她已经做过几个凭牌的设计总监包括”芳莹”、”法碟”、”如意坊”、”Marvel”、”伴尼”和现在的“芳芳”。李小姐特爱纯棉，今年也继续了这个主题。所有的衣服是浅米色。她的设计也反映她对环保和健康的态度。她也是个天天汽自行车的人。 Sorry for the lag time that sometimes occurs between the photos being taken and their appearing here. Photos taken for my column in Modern Weekly must first appear in print.
Here is Keeven, a fashion designer from Shanghai. His work has shown at fashion week there. He is with the group Fashion Design Organization. Sorry, still putting up pictures from China Fashion Week. After spending so much time seeing shows, my work has become rather backed up and I haven’t had a chance to go out shooting.
Armor for a modern urban knight? He designed it himself as he did all of his other garments.
In a very tight coffee shop right near the China Fashion Week venues, I met Ms. Guo Pei (郭培), one of the most well-known Chinese designers. As I was heading in, she was leaving, together with Cabeen (here’s his show), another major designer. One of my biggest regrets this week is that I did not make the trip out to the Olympic Green to see her show. It just seemed too far and I was feeling a bit moody on Friday night. Her work is covered in the China Daily, Fashion Wire Daily, and the All China Women’s Federation, to name a few. Check her SS ‘10 show. The theme was the thousand and second night. Here’s her blog, also.
Su Hang is a graphic designer who runs his a business with his wife, Mimi, in Beijing’s CBD. I met him at the opening dinner for a very chic new restaurant called Hanshe (汉舍) for which he did much of the design of promotional and other materials. Buying much of his wardrobe in Hong Kong, Su Hang normally dresses in a eye-catching manner. Velvet jackets are fairly common, but one doesn’t encounter bow ties so frequently. It strikes me that that I should attempt to replicate this outfit for some of the upcoming holiday parties (that I am already hearing about).
Graphic designer June picked up her dress at a second-hand shop on Gulou street.
She has quite a collection of pendants.
This one is of a bus.
Vanessa is from Harbin and her boyfriend is from Shenyan. She is a graphic designer and he makes 3D cartoons or something like that. They have been to Beijing for less than a year, but plan to stay. By the way, Harbin is one of my favorite places in China. Feed a duck to the tigers in Siberian Tiger Park. The suspense is intense as the tiger awkwardly paddles through the pond in pursuit. The ducks just nonchalantly cruise along as if there is no monster cat a meter behind, but they sometimes do even escape, unlike the chicken or pheasants who have no chance. Also make sure to have a shot of an obscure vodka at the Russian Café, on Zhongyang Lu, probably my favorite café in the world. Shenyang is not such a must-see, though it does have a very manageably-sized mini-Forbidden City built by Nurhaci as well as several late-90s examaples of provinical “shock-architecture.”
Regina Ye, who makes me think of this girl, is studying fashion design here in Beijing.
At her No. 46 Fangjia Hutong studio, Lingxifang, Designer Xu Dong finds unconventional fabrics (like snakeskin print silk) for qipaos, but uses traditional embroidery and construction techniques. Garments are about 80% handmade by a tailor who schooled under Yang Chenggui, one of China’s most famous Qipao masters. Xu Dong, descended from the Qing imperial family like most Manchus in Beijing, grew up in a courtyard house nearby her studio, not five minutes from the Confucius temple. Now she commutes from an apartment by the Fourth Ring Road.
Xander Zhou (周翔宇) was one of a huge crowd of celebrities attending fashion for Anna Wintour’s Fashion’s Night Out. All eyes have been on this young fashion designer since he guest edited the August “Gay China” issue of media sorceress Hong Huang’s (洪晃) fashion magazine “ILOOK” (more at Gayographic and China Hush). Though there have been many smaller gay-friendly publications opening and closing over the last decade, this was the first time a mainstream magazine made nature’s bachelors and their role in fashion the focus of an issue. I met Xander last at a fabric store in Muxiyuan.
Also at the Vogue party in the basement of the World Trade Center was Beijing brit-rock band Super VC (at a Burberry event). There were huge crowds and droves of celebrities making more stylites photos during the after-party up at Aria difficult.
Mother and daughter wear creations from Elisabeth Koch Millinery. With her studio, the place where the magic occurs, not five minutes from the Kerry Center, milliner Elisabeth stands out from her peers for her own attire and for the creativity of her designs. Born in the US of Dutch and Welsh parentage, Elisabeth has adored hats and distinctive dressing since girlhood. Slaving for a time in tedious white collar jobs, she finally has started making her quirky dreams into reality here in Beijing, after studying the art of hats making at Wombourne School of Millinery in the UK. Inspiration comes from her surroundings here at the heart of the Celestial Empire and from the styles of the 1960 and 1970s. Every single hat is made entirely with her own, exquisitely manicured, hands. She has not been tempted to capitalize on the cheap labor yet. Though the majority of clients are of the foreign persuasion, those who order the greatest number of hats are locals including the nonconformist wives of industrialists, government officials and wily magnates. Her hats are borrowed by Trends’ Bazaar and other magazines for photo shoots every week. They add some spice to the looks that tend to be shoulders to toes in the usual brands.
What a great representative of the China’s exciting new “creative elite”! From Guangdong, Lin Lin lived in London for some time and then returned to China to develop Jellymon, her fashion and design empire which acts as creator, consultant, and partner for numerous brands home and abroad. Beijing is her new base and her command center is in Jianwai Soho. Here, the places she enjoys most are Q Bar (for its classic margarita), Opposite House’s Bei (Sushi and Italian food) and DEAL and Lane Crawford for enlarging her shoe collection.
In the field of polyestrous clones of Dior, Comme Des Garcons, Vivienne Westwood and other “big in China” designer names that is 3.3, seeing something with its own unique brand is always stimulating. Cecaa (霍亮), 24, has a shop selling a brand with the saccharine name “Mon Cheri” in shop number 2008. The name refers to clothing being his most adored object as he grew up. He was a shy boy and clothing was an escape and an chance to be creative. A goal of his brand is helping clients find clothing that will be adored and soon have its own story. From Beijing, his childhood was spent in a military household. Mother approves of neither his style of dress nor his chosen career. Favorite designers are Coco Chanel, Hedi Slimange, Anne Demuelemeester, Raf Simons, and Yves Saint Laurent
These two are assistants at SOHO New Town, one of the older SOHOs, for International Star Entertainment Group, a fashion photography company with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong.
An instructor at Central Saint Martins College, London, Kevin Tallon now designs for a very fashion-forward sportswear label with Italian roots, now here in China. He is spearheading efforts to make this brand the most stylish one in its category for the Chinese market. The first collection will be in stores this fall. He makes the long flight out to Beijing almost every month, so he is now considering whether it might not be better to settle his two daughters and wife here in Beijing. It would be a fabulous chance for them learn the most important language of the 21st Century and experience its most important economy. He’s just a little bit worried about the pollution here. Kevin, who also appeared last year on Stylites, just came out with a book on fashion trends among Chinese youth that relies heavily on my photos. The book, Fashion Tribes: China, is now available on Amazon, and looks in depth at the rapidly changing fashion landscape here.
Having graduated from Beijing Agriculture University in ‘08, Li Huawen (李画文) and Zheng Ran (郑然, English name: Ro) are now devoting themselves to their own brand that blends illustration, design and fashion. Called Rofty (ro联厂), they produce original T-Shirts, various badges, graphic posters, environmentally friendly shopping bags and other items. The more vivacious one in the pair – she will inevitably handle the marketing – Ro studied landscape architecture and environmental planning and he graphic design. He has worked in an advertising firm before, but now they are both freelancers at the moment and hoping they never have to work in an office in the future. |
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