Okay, someone found a more stylish hobo than the one that started off this whole show.  Nicknamed sharp brother (“犀利哥”）by netizens, this fashionista of the Ningbo streets will hopefully influence the looks of his peers up here in Beijing.  More in Chinese and English.

Amidst calls to “just stop buying” to save the environment, Vivienne Westwood announced that her brand will be opening 20 boutiques in China.  She currently has one in Shanghai.  Japan is apparently plastered with this ever-subversive brand.

Vivienne Westwood说了她要在国内开20个新的店。

Calvin Klein plans to whip up its presence on the Mainland.

Ralph Lauren is also slated to bring all its major lines here, perhaps even opening a Madison Ave-style Mansion somewhere in the French Concession.  I hope the brand has not become too diluted already on the Mainland.  It will be interesting to see how locals respond to the Purple and Black labels.

Apparently, the evil Abercrombie and Bitch is also expected, after their antics received only a lukewarm reception in Tokyo.  Hopefully the government will force them to tone it down a bit for China.  It was quite a travesty when they opened a shop on Savile Row.

What amazes me is how similar the fashion set here in NYC seems to be to the one in Beijing, both in dress and in personality. The styles are as global as the affectations. I think the surprising thing is less that the NYC people are the way they are, but that the Beijing people have so rapidly studied. I would imagine that just five years ago, Beijing had a much smaller fashion scene.

Was anyone doubting that China would pull the world out of the Recession?  In Beijing, retail sales in consumer goods reached 531 billion yuan (USD 77.8 billion) in 2009, up 15.7 percent from the year before, according to China Daily.  Judging by this People’s Daily piece, Beijing’s performance was merely average, compared with the rest of the country.  Interestingly, Forbes ranked Beijing 15th on its list of global shopping capitals in 2009 – Shanghai did not make the list.  This ranking reflects the brisk growth in the number of global retailers present in the city.  The number of H&Ms and Zaras in the capital is set to grow further in 2010, with others such as Gap expected.

Hermès is one of the few luxury brands one thinks of as being relatively China-free.  Those complex and delicate prints actually come from a factory in France. Buying into the legacy really means something in the case of Hermès.  That is why the following article suggesting that they are about to start a brand designed and made in China seems surprising and meaningful.  If this is true, the boldness and honesty of the gesture stands in contrast to the somewhat underhanded way in which other brands produce their stuff here and then slap on the “made in Italy” label.   I wonder if there is any more information.

Hermès真的会在中国创造一个中国设计的中国制造品牌吗？

Armani continues its reign at the top of the Hurun list of brands favored by China’s richest, while Hermès and Gucci are rated star players over the past year.  Jingdaily.com gives its analysis of the results. Apparently, the rich are becoming more discerning and worldly.  Hermès being the top luxury accessories brand instead of LV seems to back this up.  This piece from Luxurysociety.com, compared to their Japanese counterparts suggests that the cult of LV bags will never take old here in China the way it did in Japan.  Chinese luxury consumers are apparently individualists. Some surprise showings on the Hurun list are Air China as the favored first and business class airline and Shangri-La as the best luxury hotel brand.  This seems like a bit of nationalism (Shangri-La is not a mainland company but was started by overseas Chinese, I believe).

Hangzhou fashion brand JNBY, short for “just naturally be yourself”, opens its first US boutique in Soho, NYC, after hosting a successful pop-up shop nearby.

China Daily reports that Chinese fashion designers are about to start competing with established international fashion royalty.  One such designer known as Mouse Ji supposedly has 600 retail points across Europe, which seems dubious.

Newsweek has this useful overview on growing consumption in China, which will be the world’s second largest consumer market within five years.

The boys over at Gayographic threw a Mr Gay China pageant.  The fashion show component included rags by German fashion designer David Uble.

Gucci is Chinese consumers’ favorite fashion brand according to a survey summarized in this article.  The only Chinese brand that made the list is Minsheng Bank, favored for accounts.  In fact, a few of my billions are guarded by Minsheng.

The Washington Post says foreign models are on the rise in China. It is surprising that they are reporting this now when, to me, it seems that the percentage of foreign models on billboards and magazines has been slowly decreasing. Perhaps the number of “professional” foreigners in the trade is increasing. 

Also, the Chinese government determined that slavery is slightly worse than wearing pajamas in public.

Here’s a piece from Xinhua on China’s luxury market. As we all know by now, China is the world’s second largest luxury market and it will soon become the first, displacing Japan. Of course, what “luxury” includes is subject to debate.

One distinction made in approaches to consumption is between super-wealthy and new rich, who spend mostly on gifts for business partners and wives or mistresses, and brand-savvy ‘little emperors’ – the generation of only-children born after 1980 – who actually care about the styles they are purchasing. The future does not bode well for LV, since more sophisticated consumers will choose more understated and distinctive products.

The article ends with a quote by Prof. Li. Prof. Li Fei, director of the Department of Marketing at Tsinghua University: “Hopefully, in years to come, the fashion in Paris and Milan will be to wear Chinese silk embroidery, put ancient Chinese furniture at home and sip Chinese Moutai.” The silk and furniture have already made it. Baijiu has an uncertain future – even domestically, I believe. For reasons of status and taste, even China’s young wealthy might move away from premium baijius. I see few people under thirty happily drinking or even gifting Maotai or Wuliangye.

I can’t believe I just noticed this site.  They had already noticed me.

Here she is, beautiful once again.  I had quite a thing for her back when I was in High School.  Farewell my Concubine, Raise the Red Lantern, To Live, etc. seem better than any of her recent movies, but this is not due to her being any less lovely now.

Chinese business man spends RMB eight million for a dog.

The Chinese Madame Figaro – the most cerebral of China’s mainstream fashion magazines – is hosting a “magic pattern exhibition” at the World Trade Center this week that I recommend to all Stylites readers now in Beijing.  Since March, issues of Madame Figaro have included original patterns by such well-known designers as Martin Margiela and Karl Lagerfeld.  Readers were invited to use these patterns as the basis for their own designs.  The most interesting of these new creations were actually brought to life in Beijing workshops.  This one here, my favorite, was conceived by Milk@Coffee singer Kiki and is based on a pattern by French designer Marcel Marongiu.  The patterned section is a vintage scarf.

More on the event from Yoka.com.

Kiki has been on Stylites in summer and winter.

I have high-resolution photos from all the shows.  If you ask me nicely and tell me the ones you want, I might send you some.

Catch this show (more at the Telegraph) in the Meridian Gate (午门）as soon as possible.  It ends with November.  The Chinese-influenced pieces, mainly from the 1920s, are beautiful and surprising.  The rigor with which Cartier artisans studied and imitated the motifs and techniques of traditional Chinese jewelry is impressive.  The object above joins a Chinese-style tortoise with Western horological genius.

This was one of my other favorite things.  It is a tiny picture frame in the shape of a camera.  It is about four inches tall.

Here I am, unedited, and sounding like an intellectual who doesn’t know very much. I was caught on my way out of a show and did not have any time to prepare.  There wasn’t really even that much cat.

Also, at stylelist.com, here are pictures of the 20 strangest looks from China fashion week, without any mention of the designers.  I know the names of some of them though there are sadly quite a few that I did not catch.

Last night, Ms. Li Xiaoyan (李小燕) received the 2009 (for SS ‘10 collections) gold prize for the best collection.  This award is presented by the organizations that organized this, the thirteenth China Fashion Week.  Learn more (in Chinese) on Yoka and Sina.  View the award winning collection here at Yoka.

I met Ms. Li, originally from Taipei, after her show and she was nice enough to present me with the scarf she was then wearing, which is also part of the award-winning collection.  This nice souvenir made up for the fact that my press ID was confiscated later that night because it was actually registered in my subordinates’ name.

Guo Pei (scroll down) received the award for the best woman’s collection and Cabeen got it for men.

Enovate is very relevant.   The site charts the behaviors, ideas, and patterns of the world’s most important rising consumer group.  Subjects from Erguotou to Wuliangye, and from anti-innovation to social entrepreneurship make comprehensive Enovate a daily must-see for those seeking to penetrate the dazzling China youth market.

This menswear show was the best I have seen at China Fashion Week SS ‘10.  I particularly liked the patent leather shoes.