How Chinese designers have made Shanghai, ‘Paris of the East’, into a global fashion hub
The ‘made in China’ community spirit in the city among home-grown brands, such as Labelhood, Shushu/Tong, Caroline Hu and Pronounce, is a nurturing environment for new ideas
The Chinese luxury market is entering a new era powered by sophisticated consumers and smart consumption.
New designers are returning home from renowned global institutions, such as London’s Central Saint Martins, Parsons in New York and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, to express their own voices.
These changes are opening a new chapter for the future of Chinese fashion and the industry globally.
China’s largest city, Shanghai – dubbed the “Paris of the East” – has traditionally been the birthplace of new styles and creativity, so it is no surprise that it has become a global fashion hub that is nurturing home-grown creativity.
The community spirit among the designers themselves has fostered a freer and more innovative environment for fresh ideas to thrive, offering opportunities unlike those found in any other country on the global fashion landscape.
Fashion has always been exclusive, restricted to a closed inner circle or class, and tends to be challenging for newcomers to infiltrate. But in Shanghai, much of the new talent has graduated from the same schools and built on strong connections during student years spent abroad.
“The alumni network has definitely helped us enter the game,” Li Yushan, a Central Saint Martins graduate, who co-designs the rising menswear label, Pronounce, says.
“We’d share resources with anyone who was from the same school as us, and this is hugely beneficial for someone starting out in the industry.”
Shanghai Fashion Week has grown to be one of the most watched fashion events outside the traditional calendar, not because of our commercial power, but because of this explosion of local creativity
A new generation of photographers such as Leslie Zhang and Zeng Wu work closely with designers such as Shushu/Tong and Yirantian, and stylists like Audrey Hu and Liu Xiao.