SHANGHAI Fashion Week strutted into town over the past two weeks, bringing the latest catwalk collections, newest trends, and most au courant designers.

An increasing number of international brands are seeking a slice of the booming mainland market and homegrown Chinese designers are nurturing global ambitions, and this edition of Shanghai Fashion Week reflected that internationalism.

Key events included the seventh edition of The Hub, Asia’s premium fashion trade event for emerging and established international brands. The three-day event showcased more than 60 exhibitors from contemporary and streetwear to accessories and footwear at the Shanghai Super Brand Mall. Reflecting on the changes in almost two years that The Hub has held this prestigious invitation-only event in Shanghai, co-founder Richard Hobbs said, “We have seen changes here that are in line with trends at the higher end of the fashion world, as consumers move away from known designer labels to look for something more niche or directional. This is reflected in the way buyers look at product design, quality, and provenance, instead of just looking for names and labels they already know.”

This year, The Hub brought in some of the world’s most in-demand designers and their spring/summer 2017 collections, including Emma Wallace, Orla Kiely, RAINS, Sadie Clayton, as well as a catwalk presentation of Sibling, THE brand to watch.

Sibling presented their women’s fall/winter 2016 catwalk collection at The Hub and has returned this time with their menswear collection.

“The local market is very supportive and interested in our brand. The market seems to be looking for something new, so it may be that there is a move away from big brand names and consumers are seeking something unique and are keen to start dressing in a more mix-it-up way,” said Cozette McCreery, director of Sibling marketing and sales.

Up-and-coming UK fashion label Sadie Clayton, presenting their collection on the Chinese mainland for the first time, selected The Hub as their venue. Founder and designer Sadie Clayton expressed an interest in learning as much as possible about the Chinese market, and more specifically about distributing to cities beyond Shanghai and Beijing.

Clayton’s sculptural women’s wear collection uses industrial materials to create avant-garde silhouettes to fit the female form. Clayton felt that Chinese fashion consumers may be more receptive than Europeans to her clothing.

“China’s fashion landscape is more avant-garde than Europe’s, with shops and the media being much more open minded and engaged with new designers and interested in fashion. The result is fashion that is more cutting edge and trend-setting rather than trend-following,” she said.

Italian fashion houses have also taken advantage of Shanghai Fashion Week to present their collections and publicize their brands.

Several successful Italian fashion labels with strong creative identities were introduced for first time on the Chinese mainland through the IGFD Showroom SH at Shanghai Mansion.

Labels presented include Andia fora, Bonomea, JW Brine, Luciano Milano, Malloni, Marios, Novemb3r, Patricia Bonfanti, Pierantonio Gaspari and True Royal, all of which have a strong appeal to department stores and buyers. Brand representatives also met with potential collaborators at the showroom, another indictor of keen interest in this market.

Jobs Ku, founder of IGFD Gruppo S.r.l., says that he has plans to bring this method of introducing true Italian fashion through the showroom to Shanghai and beyond.

Trade show White Milano, known for scouting some of the coolest collections and labels during Milan Fashion Week, made its Shanghai Fashion Week debut with the support of the Italian government through the Italian Trade Commission Shanghai.

“The purpose of the event was promoting one of the most interesting, and growing, Italian fashion trade shows, and more generally to promote the Italian lifestyle,” said trade commissioner Claudio Pasqualucci. He added that the Italian Trade Commission would welcome an ongoing White Milano trade show at Shanghai Fashion Week, noting that an Italian presence at the event would further boost the reputation of Shanghai Fashion Week.

White Milano has created a brand for the Asian market called WHITEAST Introducing China, launched in Milan during that city’s fashion week. In Shanghai, this initiative is focusing on Chinese and Italian contemporary designers.

WHITEAST Introducing China offered Chinese designers selected by White Milano the opportunity to meet with Western press and buyers. Meanwhile, Italian designers and brands presented site-specific installations and special artwork.

Swarovski, a long-time supporter of creativity and original designs also launched its latest creative collaboration with Asia-Pacific fashion designers for spring/summer and fall/winter 2017 during Shanghai Fashion Week.

Swarovski selected Chinese homegrown fashion labels by Fang, Haizhen Wang, Ping He and Simon Gao, as well as Australian brand Romance was Born to integrate Swarovski crystals into special looks in their upcoming ready-to-wear collections.

This year also marks the second year of Swarovski’s outreach program with local talents such as Yang Fang. A Swarvoski collaborator for the past two years, she fuses her signature origami with Swarovski crystals to create an intricately detailed, precious handcrafted work. Looking ahead, Swarovski aims to strengthen their reach across the region and beyond.

In addition to the growing number of ready-to-wear labels from both China and abroad presented at the Shanghai Fashion Week, international accessory brands also met with potential customers and buyers.

Luxury online retailer TrustLuxe, founded by Net-A-Porter pioneer Carmen Busquets and Ricardo Ferrer, showcased the latest arrivals from its collaborators, handbag designers Bea Valdes and Una Burke.

“As part of the fashion and design community, we wanted to open our showroom to introduce our exclusive brands to those who do not yet know us,” said co-founder Ferrer, who brings niche luxury brands to China at the same retail price as in Europe and the United States.

“We firmly believe that there is a growing demand for smaller ‘niche’ brands, but a lack of offerings. Discussing this with my long-time friend and co-founder, luxury and fashion pioneer Carmen Busquets, resulted in the creation of a platform where brands would feel safe and protected entering the China market.”