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Kids' wear features Chinese design
By Xu Wenwen |
May 2, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BECAUSE she couldn't imagine to dress up her French-Chinese son with Western clothes only, a creative Parisian mother with a Chinese husband designed tasteful traditional garments with a modern touch for her son. Xu Wenwen reports.
Parisian Marilyne Laborde, who could not find suitable clothes for her baby boy, has created her own brand of children's wear, which combines traditional Chinese design with Western features.
Laborde, originally a landscape designer, has been living in Hangzhou since 2005. She is very fluent in Mandarin and can even pick up some words of her husband's family's dialect, Huzhou dialect.
Five years ago when she was pregnant, Laborde shopped for baby clothes, but found few that she liked, so she designed her own and tailors made them. By that time she also decorated her home, with the help of talented carpenters in Zhejiang Province.
After many friends expressed interest in her clothes, Laborde established her own brand Mandarin Mandarine for newborns, toddlers and children up to 12 years of age.
"My son has two rich and fascinating cultures in his heart, the French and the Chinese. And I wanted to build a meaningful bridge between both, by creating Asian-style garments and items that were not touristy folk products, but nice looking and of good quality for daily life," Laborde says.
Her first garment was a maternity dress for herself, and then she made hand-embroidered curtains for the baby's bedroom and a silk quilt to keep her baby warm in winter. She went on to make clothes for her son and other children.
She keeps the key elements of Chinese traditional costumes - Mandarin collars, pankou ("frog" fastenings), wrapover tops, but uses unexpected materials such as liberty cotton fabrics, linen, jeans or cashmere.
The garments, including a few tailor-made women's clothes, are not exactly cheongsam (fitted dress) or tangzhuang (Tang jacket), but combine Chinese and Western elements, with a result that is vintage and stylish. She seeks customer feedback and incorporates their suggestions into her designs.
For example, her Jardin Méditerranéen dudou is inspired by Chinese bellybands for children. The traditional undergarment covers a woman's breasts and belly and the item has become quite fashionable, featuring fine embroidery. The dudou for children are adjustable so they can be worn for at least two summers and reversible to match different trousers.
The fabric is called Jardin Méditerranéen because it evokes the generous blossoms in Provence, where Laborde's mother comes from.
Other garments include top-selling cashmere cardigans with a cheongsam design, soft and warm for winter.
"I have the feeling that Chinese people are torn between nostalgia for a wonderful cultural heritage that would belong to the past and Western expectations about lifestyle," Laborde says. "But I believe that a wonderful combination is possible, and that China will soon succeed to integrate both."
The designer herself primarily wears her own designs.
She also produces traditional items such as a newborn baby gift box made of bamboo, plush shoes, wool knitted gloves and a rabbit doll.
"Southern China's culture is so rich - with its silk, tea culture, bamboo handicrafts, woodcarving, batiks and porcelain - which inspired me to start a project in cooperation with local craftsmen," she says.
Laborde travels around Asia for more inspiration.
Last year she visited Tibetan Buddhist lamaseries, then creating a range of sweaters inspired by Buddhist culture.
"Originally I was a landscape engineer and from that education I retain the concepts of sustainable development and the love of nature and the environment," she says.
Hangzhou mother Fu Wei is a loyal customer of Mandarin Mandarine, buying clothes for her son as well as gifts.
"Laborde's clothes are improved Chinese clothing made of organic fabrics, which are elegant and in good taste," Fu says.
Over the past four years, the percentage of Chinese clientele has risen from 20 percent to 60 percent.
Laborde operates an online shop (mandarin-mandarine.taobao.com).
Parisian Marilyne Laborde, who could not find suitable clothes for her baby boy, has created her own brand of children's wear, which combines traditional Chinese design with Western features.
Laborde, originally a landscape designer, has been living in Hangzhou since 2005. She is very fluent in Mandarin and can even pick up some words of her husband's family's dialect, Huzhou dialect.
Five years ago when she was pregnant, Laborde shopped for baby clothes, but found few that she liked, so she designed her own and tailors made them. By that time she also decorated her home, with the help of talented carpenters in Zhejiang Province.
After many friends expressed interest in her clothes, Laborde established her own brand Mandarin Mandarine for newborns, toddlers and children up to 12 years of age.
"My son has two rich and fascinating cultures in his heart, the French and the Chinese. And I wanted to build a meaningful bridge between both, by creating Asian-style garments and items that were not touristy folk products, but nice looking and of good quality for daily life," Laborde says.
Her first garment was a maternity dress for herself, and then she made hand-embroidered curtains for the baby's bedroom and a silk quilt to keep her baby warm in winter. She went on to make clothes for her son and other children.
She keeps the key elements of Chinese traditional costumes - Mandarin collars, pankou ("frog" fastenings), wrapover tops, but uses unexpected materials such as liberty cotton fabrics, linen, jeans or cashmere.
The garments, including a few tailor-made women's clothes, are not exactly cheongsam (fitted dress) or tangzhuang (Tang jacket), but combine Chinese and Western elements, with a result that is vintage and stylish. She seeks customer feedback and incorporates their suggestions into her designs.
For example, her Jardin Méditerranéen dudou is inspired by Chinese bellybands for children. The traditional undergarment covers a woman's breasts and belly and the item has become quite fashionable, featuring fine embroidery. The dudou for children are adjustable so they can be worn for at least two summers and reversible to match different trousers.
The fabric is called Jardin Méditerranéen because it evokes the generous blossoms in Provence, where Laborde's mother comes from.
Other garments include top-selling cashmere cardigans with a cheongsam design, soft and warm for winter.
"I have the feeling that Chinese people are torn between nostalgia for a wonderful cultural heritage that would belong to the past and Western expectations about lifestyle," Laborde says. "But I believe that a wonderful combination is possible, and that China will soon succeed to integrate both."
The designer herself primarily wears her own designs.
She also produces traditional items such as a newborn baby gift box made of bamboo, plush shoes, wool knitted gloves and a rabbit doll.
"Southern China's culture is so rich - with its silk, tea culture, bamboo handicrafts, woodcarving, batiks and porcelain - which inspired me to start a project in cooperation with local craftsmen," she says.
Laborde travels around Asia for more inspiration.
Last year she visited Tibetan Buddhist lamaseries, then creating a range of sweaters inspired by Buddhist culture.
"Originally I was a landscape engineer and from that education I retain the concepts of sustainable development and the love of nature and the environment," she says.
Hangzhou mother Fu Wei is a loyal customer of Mandarin Mandarine, buying clothes for her son as well as gifts.
"Laborde's clothes are improved Chinese clothing made of organic fabrics, which are elegant and in good taste," Fu says.
Over the past four years, the percentage of Chinese clientele has risen from 20 percent to 60 percent.
Laborde operates an online shop (mandarin-mandarine.taobao.com).
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