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A group of youngChinese designersknown as the “Gang of Six” ventured abroad to study before returning to their homeland to start their own fashion brands. Today they are considered some of the country’s most promisingdesigntalents.
Angel Chen, DanielXuzhi Chen,Momo Wang of Museum of Friendship, Mushroom Song of WMWM, Xiao Li, and design duo Liushu “Shu Shu” Lei and Yutong “Tong Tong” Jiang of Shushu/Tong, make up this cadre of 20-something design talents. Their names are becoming increasingly familiar toChinese fashionwatchers, whether they are scanning the schedule atShanghai Fashion Weekor flicking through the racks at multibrand boutiques in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen andChengdu.
“It’s a new group of talented Chinese designers, it’s like people used to look at Antwerp. It started with the consumers and the retail and e-commerce boom and then the creative side also comes up. Now Chinese designers are in a market and a position where they can really push the boundaries,” said Angel Chen, who studied atCentral Saint Martinsbefore moving toShanghaito launch her eponymous brand.
This gang of up-and-coming designers represent the next generation of Chinese fashion. Photo: Dave Tacon
These emerging designers aren’t simply lumped together because of their age group and education at prestigious schools like Central Saint Martins and the London College of Fashion. They often show together at showrooms both inChinaand abroad, and in many cases, help each other out — literally as they each chart a path to creative and commercial success.
“Take my show at Shanghai Fashion Week, Shu Shu [Lei, of Shushu/Tong] was my receptionist, Angel [Chen] was helping me with sewing. I don’t have a studio in Shanghai so I was using them to finish the whole collection,” explained Daniel Xuzhi Chen, whose brand, Xu Zhi, has won acclaim for its clever textural elements. “We are in the same industry, facing the same challenges, with the same opportunities and threats and we are all aware that we need to help each other.”
The question of whether there is a sense of competition among these young designers splits the group, though all agree that even when they do get competitive, it’s a positive impetus to push themselves to achieve more.
“We are really good friends, we always show in Paris and in Shanghai together, we have dinner, and even buy and wear each other’s clothes,” said Yutong Jiang, one half of the design duo behind the Shushu/Tong brand. “Of course there is competition, but it’s competition in a good way. When you see others doing something good, it will push you to do something better.”
One thing these young designers are in agreement about is the importance of their international experience and fashion education in London and venturing out ofChina.
Liushu Li and Yutong Jiang of Shushu/Tong Photo: Dave Tacon
“I wanted to go to London because the feeling there is different. In China they don’t have the same culture of art and fashion exhibitions and they don’t really have a culture of fashion. In places like London and Paris, I can discover things that are unique and different,” explained Mushroom Song of WMWM.
For designer Xiao Li, her years spent studying in London were important for two fundamental reasons: one was to develop an identity independent from her family in China and the other was to gain an international insight into creativity.
“When I was in China, my parents took care of everything for me, but when you go overseas you become more independent; when I went to London I had to take care of myself,” Xiao Li said. “In London, designers are encouraged to have a more creative mind. A designer in China has a more business mind. It’s a different focus.”
This international experience obviously has many benefits, but it also leads to questions about each brand’s identity as a “Chinese” versus “international” label.
“I’m fine with people thinking about me as a Chinese brand, partly because I really want to support Chinese culture; you can see on my clothes, there are lots of references to Chinese culture and history in my clothes,” Angel Chen said. “I feel like this is part of my responsibility. I want to make Chinese culture more contemporary and acceptable for international audiences.”
Shushu/Tong’s Yutong Jiang said she and her partner would prefer to be known as “a brand based in Shanghai,” rather than a Chinese brand.
“We have been several places so I don’t define us as a Chinese brand in particular. We are based in Shanghai, but we go to Paris for showrooms twice a year. We want to be quite international,” she said.
Regardless of whether they are striving to be known as a “Chinese brand,” all of these designers have graduated within the past five years and chosen to return to China to launch their own brands. It’s a path that might seem unusual to a fresh graduate from Europe or the U.S., who might opt to work at an established brand before launching his or her own label.
Momo Wang of Museum of Friendship Photo: Dave Tacon
But China is different – this isn’t a country for climbing ladders, but for building ladder factories. Fortuitously for this generation of designers, China is simultaneously experiencing a desire for independent design, a growing curiosity about local design, as well as a generation of millennial consumers who boast buying power unimaginable to past generations of Chinese consumers.
As the local fashion industry in China burgeons, so does support for local designers. What sets these up-and-comers apart from past generations of Chinese designers is a focus on building both a brand identity and a community of young consumers, according to Tasha Liu, co-founder of the Dong Liang chain of multi-brand boutiques in China.
“These designers have huge potential to go further, [because] they are building up a very healthy and direct linkage with their young consumers – not only like designer and client, but also friends,” she said.
Lane Crawford
has taken notice of the trend and startedcarrying more Chinese brandsat its stores.
“We saw something special in their collections and vision for their brand. They all have a very unique point of view and are extremely passionate about their work. There’s no magic formula; sometimes you see a collection and you just know,” said Lane Crawford buyer Jillian Xin.
Leaf Greener, a stylist and publisher of her own WeChat fashion and lifestyle magazine Leaf, said she thinks Chinese consumers are keen to buy the work of homegrown design talents.
“I think local buyers really support local designers, the showrooms here are booming because multibrand stores stocking Chinese brands are all over China right now. They are supporting Chinese talents and they seem to be doing a booming business,” she said.
As China’s fashion industry continues to grow and the market of consumers expands, these up-and-coming design talents will have even more opportunities to expand their businesses, observers said.
“I think there’s unlimited potential for many of these young Chinese designers; they are just getting started and establishing themselves. In five years, I’m confident that more and more will become household names in China as well as internationally,” Lane Crawford’s Xin said.
（WWD）
