Chinese fashion designers free to do things differently – take Grace Chen’s catwalk show on a cruise ship and VIP shoot in Tasmania
Distance from fashion mainstream gives Chinese designers freedom to market their lines in other ways, such as taking wealthy clients on a private fashion shoot overseas or showing aboard a liner, as couturier Grace Chen did recently
Trying to fathom the constant evolution of the Chinese fashion scene can be daunting. But for the designers and power players shaping it, the scene’s distance from global trends can be liberating, and lucrative.
Take Shanghai-based couturier Grace Chen, for example, who does not show at Paris Couture Week (though she’s planning on applying in due time) but has built one of China’s most successful couture houses in just a few short years. Unhindered by being locked into a Western couture system, she’s thinking outside the box when it comes to how and where she holds her shows – and how she engages with her clients.
Beyond her many shows in Beijing, Shanghai and the occasional overseas location, there was a recent 10-day private trip to Tasmania for a handful of VIP clients. She brought along a team that included a photographer, hair and make-up artists, and they did professional shoots of the women in her couture gowns against the backdrop of Tasmanian landscapes. Part holiday, part customer engagement, part client fashion shoot, it was a clever and innovative way of “sharing an amazing experience” between couturier and customer.
“My good friend owns a high-end travel agency, we share a lot of interests and she’s also a really good client of mine,” says Chen of how she got the idea for the trip and brought it to fruition.