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Fashion Week has come and gone

By Michelle Zhang | May 1, 2009, Friday | Print Edition

THE big problem with many young designers is that they aim for very special aesthetics, not wearablity. Fortunately, says Michelle Zhang, Fashion Week features lots of beautiful and easy styles.

Kanye West's "Stronger" was chosen by Beijing-based designer Zhang Chi as the background music for his fashion presentation last Sunday in the Shanghai Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2009 showcase ending on Tuesday.

But the male models by no means give an impression of strength. All wearing Gothic make-up (big smoky eyes, gaunt cheeks and black lips), they are willowy, decadent and gloomy. The collection features luxurious fabrics such as velvet and silk, in clean, delicate cuttings - usually asymmetrical - and most of all, exquisite details like crystals-lined trimmings and even, high-tech MP5s.

Black was the color throughout all the 34 "looks."

"Fashion is created to change our lives," says the Beijing native who studied fashion in Italy and France 10 years before returning to China to launch his studio in Beijing last October. "I want the wearers of my clothes to be the focus in the crowds wherever they go."

It is rare for the annual Shanghai Fashion Week to hold shows of solely men's wear. Apart from Zhang, Zhou Xiangyu, another much-acclaimed men's wear designer from Beijing, also made his debut in the city last Friday.

In the latest collection of his own brand "Xander Zhou," the young graduate of the Netherlands' Den Haag Fashion Institute has used an extravaganza of wool and all kinds of furs.

Most of the coats, suits and trousers are de-constructed, in a relatively conservative palette of black, gray and electric blue, and are distinguished by punk-style details including trimmings and rivets.

Since Zhou is a media darling, his creations are loved and worn by many Chinese movie stars and celebrities. Compared with Zhang's fashions, his designs are more practical and more adaptable to daily wear.

"My clothes are designed for a niche group," Zhang stresses. "I care more about the aesthetic effect, the visual pleasure than the wearability."

And this very attitude, says Chris Chang, former general manager of Prada in Taiwan, is the biggest problem of young designers of the day.

The GM-turned-designer Chang presented a glamorous show last Saturday, featuring 67 oh-so-beautiful outfits, including floaty dresses, see-through blouses, perfectly volumed coats, skirts and pants, from her "Poesia by Chris Chang" label.

"My working experience with Prada has helped me a lot in terms of design," she says. "I don't design for the sake of design but for the customers, and I'm very sensitive to figures and market needs."

In the collection on display, people are able to find almost all the biggest influences in women's fashion nowadays: colors, patterns and prints, ethnic influences, handicraft details and different lengths.

She mixes prints, colors and embroideries in some most unimaginable ways. For example, a top featuring leopard prints is worn with a floral-patterned long skirt, and a jumpsuit is made of three kinds of fabrics patched together. The result, however, is surprisingly harmonious.

Chang looks for inspirations from contemporary art works, clothes of minority groups, Peking Opera costumes and all those glorious fabrics made in China. All the fabrics she uses are sourced in China.

"I always use bright hues, no matter for spring/summer or for autumn/winter collections," she says. "My personal style is glamorous. That's why some of the pieces might look as if they were for the evening but I think they are suitable for the day as well."

Chang launched the label in 2006. At first it was a label of haute couture children's wear, because, as a mother, she found it hard to find beautiful, chic dresses for her daughter.

It turned out to be a great success. These unique pieces for little girls are sold in 12 boutiques around the United States, including Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus. Some of the customers love the designs so much that they asked Chang to design for the mothers as well.

"I try to make every piece as beautiful as possible," Chang says. "I believe that during the recession, it's not that the customers don't want to spend money, it's that the clothes are not beautiful enough."

Two well-established local designers, Ji Cheng and Li Hongyan, also showed their latest collections during the one-week event. Both failed to impress.

As is always the case, Ji put too much emphasis on the "stories" behind the clothes than on the clothes themselves. And Li's collection, comprised of tight dresses made of leather and lace, is nothing but a poor facsimile of Gianni Versace's signature style, adding some Chinese elements, of course.

This year's Shanghai Fashion Week was ended by a combined show of three Chilean designers, who have brought us dresses made of natural fabrics in relaxed silhouettes and big, bold accessories crafted out of glittering silver.

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