A China warning for global fashion brands from Leaf Greener, influencer and former Elle China editor: ‘Chinese people are really supporting Chinese culture right now’
- Luxury brands should not just rely on Asian tourists spending in Paris after the pandemic even if Chinese people will travel more, says Leaf Greener
- The former fashion editor of Elle China also looks forward to seeing a ‘a big brand like Louis Vuitton’ hire a Chinese creative director
For the past 15 years, Leaf Greener has had a front-row view of the remarkable changes the fashion industry has undergone, both globally and in her country, China.
After leaving Elle China in 2014, where she had been working since 2008, the Shanghai-based Greener started a successful career as a consultant, art director, street style star and influencer.
Her rise as one of the industry’s most respected insiders has mirrored that of China, now the largest luxury market in the world.
Whether she’s consulting for Western brands, helping Chinese designers find their place in the international fashion system or delighting fans on social media, Greener likes to keep it real and is not afraid to express her opinion – however controversial it may be.
Greener has since been back home in Shanghai, from where she spoke to the Post on a video call to give her take on what the fashion industry will look like post-pandemic.
Fashion in 2021: Dior or Chanel, and will Chinese be in Paris?
On China’s rising power in fashion
“Brands have to face the reality that China is the only country that’s functioning really well right now, so that’s why they’re focusing on China even more than before.
“I think it’s a good time for brands to pay more attention to the local culture and not just focus on consumers but engage with the creative class too, people who can shift and influence trends. They should pay more attention to Chinese talent and modern Chinese culture, artists, architects, designers, writers, musicians …
“Last year Gucci invited Yueqi Qi, a Chinese fashion designer, to do a film and all the clothing featured was from her, not from Gucci. That is a way to embrace Chinese culture and talent.”
On China’s home-grown fashion scene
“Even before the pandemic, many Chinese designers working abroad were thinking about moving back to China. With the pandemic, they made the final decision to come back.
“Rui Zhou, a designer who is also a finalist for the LVMH Prize this year, was based in New York and moved back to China right as the pandemic was happening.
“When I worked at Elle China, I was already supporting Chinese designers. We even had awards for Chinese designers and I was interviewing, shooting a lot of them and even put them on the cover.
“After I left, I started consulting for them or styling their collections and helping with art direction. I wasn’t just wearing their clothes at fashion week, but also doing a lot behind the scenes and helping them make their business and image more global.
On China’s new fashion guard
“Young brands need to understand that it’s not just about the product, which has to be good-quality and well designed, but also about the whole package, like their shows – if they do a show – and the attitude, the models and the images they put out. Many designers based in Shanghai now could be a bit more diverse in what they do.
“Some new brands I like are Windowsen, Louis Shengtao Chen and Rui Zhou. I like her because she’s very specific and it’s hard to see a young designer who just focuses on one thing, in her case knitwear, and does it well, like she does.”
On the prospects for global fashion brands in China and beyond
“All luxury brands should invest in their e-commerce and develop it more because they can’t rely on tourists from China or Asia shopping in Paris. They should focus on that part of the business because the virus will live with us forever. But the Chinese love travelling and will go abroad even more than before after the pandemic.
“In China this is happening a bit less, but I can see that in the rest of the world people are only buying brands like Hermès while other brands that make trendy stuff are struggling, because people don’t need that any more.”
On the shifts in consumer habits
“I myself changed my shopping habits this year. I don’t buy as much fashion but more interior items, like designer chairs, mirrors, dishes … I asked home decor boutiques and I looked at numbers for China, and the sector has been booming here because people are spending more time at home. I even took up oil painting.
“I also just finished an online course about architecture from Harvard. I got so much inspiration from it and it opened a whole new world for me because I had zero foundation on architecture. It was mainly about theory but I had a lot of assignments like drawings. It took a lot of my time.”
On the future of fashion weeks
“We’re going back to fashion week as it used to be. It’s psychological; people are hungry for more after so much starvation. We will have even more shows and events and we will be even busier than before. After the pandemic, it will be crazy.
“It’s very sad right now. I think that digital shows are not effective and it’s just not the same.”
