China Fashion Gala to be held online with celebs

APD NEWS

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The China Institute and Yue-Sai Kan China Beauty Charity Fund (CBCF) revealed that the annual China Fashion Gala will be held at a New York hotel on July 23. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no live audience. Instead, people will be able to watch it online.

Yue-Sai Kan, TV host, CBCF founder and co-chair of China Institute, will host the gala. These days everything seems to be upside down, but China Institute has weathered many storms throughout its nearly 100 years. We believe it's important that the world know China through its culture — through fashion, music, dance, and language, she said.

This year's China Fashion Gala is themed One World in Beauty. According to Kan, the gala will celebrate beauty in its many delightful and wondrous forms to deliver a message of inspiration and hope.

The annual event celebrates outstanding Chinese designers who have helped position China at the forefront of global fashion and beauty. It also serves as a platform to recommend emerging Chinese talents onto the international stage. By holding this gala, organizers hope to encourage, promote, develop, and inherit fashion designs inspired by Chinese elements.

Quincy Jones Productions will create the opening performance. In addition, the night will feature an iconic performance of The Thousand Hand Bodhisattva by dancers from the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe. There will also be a fashion show by Chinese couture designer Xiong Ying to showcase her designs under the Heaven Gaia label, with elements inspired by China's famous Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu province.

A poster to promote Chinese couture designer Xiong Ying's Heaven Gaia show at the virtual China Fashion Gala on July 23, 2020. [Photo courtesy of Yue-Sai Kan China Beauty Charity Fund]

Moreover, there will be appearances by actresses Yang Mi, Joan Chen, Christy Chung, Maggie Q, pianist Lang Lang, saxophonist Kenny G, composer Tan Dun, South Korean singers Rain and PSY, as well as Guo Pei, Christian Louboutin, Vivienne Tam, Michelle Kwan, Bette Midler, Ban Ki-moon, Angelica Cheung, and more.

Estée Lauder will be the honoree at the gala for the Beauty Award. The brand has over 2,000 retail locations in more than 129 Chinese cities. Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist Wendy Yu will receive the Millennial Leadership Award, and designer Phillip Lim will receive the Leadership Award. The gala will also honor Chinese American actress Lucy Liu with the Icon Award.

Proceeds from the gala will benefit the many diverse programs of China Institute, the New York City-based non-profit organization founded in 1926 that serves as a gateway for Americans to learn about Chinese language, culture, art, and business.

In the current environment, we need to find moments to celebrate and share joy, said James B. Heimowitz, president of China Institute. China Fashion Gala is an opportunity to do just that through the prism of 'One World in Beauty.'

(CHINA.ORG.CN)