New York Fashion Week: Chinese and Hong Kong designers show on world’s stage at China Day event

The men’s collections in New York may have ended with a show by cult designer Raf Simons, a favourite of hip-hop stars and the art crowd, but China reigned supreme on the last day of the event, with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) even billing it China Day.

The day-long affair saw three Chinese brands and one Hong Kong brand present women’s and men’s collections in collaboration with Chinese online retail platform Tmall.

Sportswear giant Li-Ning, high-street brand Peacebird, independent designer Chen Peng, and Clot – the streetwear label founded by Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Kevin Poon and former entertainer Edison Chen – all staged shows, and made their offerings available online on Tmall as soon as the events ended.

“We’ve seen a big upgrade in the fashion scene in China, and we decided to invite a lot of premium brands to Tmall, so we started a series of activities to show that Tmall is also about trendy brands,” explains Jessica Liu, president of Tmall Fashion and Luxury, speaking backstage after the Chen Peng show.

“When we approached the CFDA, we found them very open and willing to do innovative stuff; [they were] not just interested in corporate sponsorship but [they wanted] to do something deep to influence the industry.”