The Hempel Award, given during China Fashion Week each year, features works by young designers. Photos By Jiang Dong / China Daily
Mainland designers take a back seat to those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and from France and Korea, at China Fashion Week. Gan Tian reports
The 2010 autumn/winter China Fashion Week (CFW) that ended on Tuesday was less about mainland designers.
This year, the event highlighted pieces by Frenchman Daniel Faret, Korean Lea Seong, Taiwanese Lin Goji and Hong Kong native Rib Yeung.
The winner was certainly Daniel Faret. In the Septwolves menswear show, his "beyond the light" collection had slim-cuts trousers, tight vests and jackets, oversized handbags, and long outer garments held together by wide belts.
Despite the use of just blue, black, white and gray, Faret still managed to give the collection a luxurious feel through the clever use of leather, silk, and wool.
Septwolves is inviting foreign designers to contribute to its new label, Septwolves Series.
"Daniel is the first one to be involved in this project, and has been with us for three years. He has brought many creative ideas to this brand, and we would like to cooperate with him for another couple of years," says Zhou Shaoxiong, president of Septwolves Group.
Faret was born in a textile and garment family in France. He has worked for big names including Armani, Versace and Kenzo. In 1995, he came out with his own brand, Daniel Faret.
His China sojourn began in 2004, when Zhejiang Zhongxin Wooltex Company decided to put his collection in the local market.
The designer says he tried to imagine what life was like for someone traveling around the world. "I wanted to define a lifestyle that combines Beijing and Paris, Milan and Guangzhou, New York and Shanghai," he says.
Unlike Faret, Korean designer Lea Seong has her own brand in China. She registered her company in Shanghai in 2008 and has been active in CFW, holding shows every year.
Her 2010 autumn/winter collection is all about elegance. Her "Bathing in the Moonlight" collection features shapely and colorful wool dresses with scallops, flowers, butterflies and buckles, and overlapping flounces.
Inspired by an overwhelming loneliness she felt when she awoke one night, the collection is dominated by the colors gold, representing moonlight, and black, representing the quiet night. "At that moment, I missed my father," she says.
She is the only foreign face in the China Fashion Association.
Dismissing criticisms that CFW cannot really attract big names, Lea says: "This is my fourth time at CFW and I enjoy it very much."
Taiwanese Lin Goji did not bring his collection this time. Instead, he brought those of his students. His opening show, held at Beijing Hotel, featured the works of students from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and Taiwan's Shih Chien University.
Lin, a teacher at Shih Chien, says mainland students are more creative, coming up with different styles to suit the changing seasons.
"As Taiwan's weather is hot all the time, we have more in the spring and summer collection," he says.
He attended last year's CFW, with his traditional oriental designs. He made his model wear a long piece of cloth, printed the famous Chinese painting, by Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan, Along the River During Qingming Festival.
Lin will bring back his Goji Lin collection to CFW next year.
He also says compared with Taipei in Style (a Taipei fashion event), CFW is more competitive and is drawing keen interest from Taiwanese fashion designers.
"CFW is now the largest in Asia, barring Tokyo. With it growing, Beijing will soon become the sixth fashion metropolis, surpassing Madrid and Rio de Janeiro," Lin says.
But he says CFW should invite more foreign designers, especially Asian ones.
Compared with Lin, Hong Kong native Rib Yeung's collection is more modern. On March 30, a local women's brand Misun, for which Yeung works, held a fashion show set against a rock 'n' roll background. Every outfit was presented with matching sunglasses and handbags. The collection is defined by small jackets, tweed suits, and colorful floral skirts.
But the biggest draw was his scarves - there were knitted thick ones to go with the oversized sweaters, and thin silk ones to match the colorful t-shirts. Yeung also showed how to create a unique look by combining two or three scarves.
"I love layers, but you have to know how to match the colors, sizes, and patterns," he says.
Yeung is not new to CFW. He was invited to be the judge at the 2007 Jeanswest Casual Wear Contest.
