Level 6 Fashion Dissertation

Essay title:
What are the obstacles that prevent Chinese designers
being able to design for the Western market and can
these be overcome by new design methodologies?


Name:
Sonic Lam Wai Keung

Student ID:
S13180156

Submission date:
28/4/2014












Abstract
This article explores the obstacles that prevent Chinese designers from being
able to design for the Western market and attempts to generate a new
methodology for them as references for design. The methodology would
especially give to todays Chinese young designers. In terms of obstacles, I
focus on historical influence, marketing strategy and peoples mind-set. The
study shows that the isolation policy, wrong market strategy and strong
nationalism are obstacles that prevent Chinese designers from designing. For
the new methodology, this article shows that Chinese spirit instead of Chinese
symbols, removing the old Chinese image, overseas study, participating in
international competition, hybrid culture, green fashion and establishing a new
identify should be the new methodology for young Chinese designers.
1. Introduction
In the history of fashion, there have been many revolutions. The one that
involved Asian countries occurred in the 1980s, when Issey Miyake, Yohji
Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo challenged mainstream Western fashion.
These three Japanese designers brought an enormous change to Parisian
fashion. The introduction of flat pieces and a lose silhouette challenged
traditional Western tailoring. Their designs looked remarkably innovative and
ignored conventional dressmaking techniques. The Western world was
colonized by Japanese black austerity, and Japan became one the leading
countries in terms of fashion innovation (Niessen et al., 2003). Since the
1980s, Japanese fashion has developed for about 30 years. As a Chinese
student studying in United Kingdom, I can see that fashion designers, fashion
students and fashion tutors only trust Japanese design. They consider
everything that is perceived to be oriental to be a Japanese design. For
example, if I designed a collarless and warped lapel jacket, they would call it a
kimono jacket. This shows that Japanese fashion has influenced Western
people deeply. After Japanese designers established a concerted national
identity in Western fashion for about 30 years, Chinese designers began to
find their identity. In 2006, Frankie Xie became the first Chinese designer to
present his collection at Paris Fashion Week, and two years later Ma Ke
presented her collection at Paris Haute Couture show.
Chinese designers started developing fashion 50 years later than
Japan, and Chinas fashion is still in its infancy. Some designs still look like a
display in a history museum. What are the obstacles that prevent Chinese
designers work from becoming contemporary? Damir Doma is a French
designer, whose previous work has featured oriental elements some of which
are obviously are inspired by Chinese culture. His designs are quite famous in
Western markets. After having come to know of this designer, I began to
wonder why our culture can only be well presented by Western designers and
why we Chinese cannot make such use of our own culture. I believe that the
reasons are related to historical influence, incorrect marketing strategy and
the concerted mind-set.
Throughout history, China has tended to isolate herself from the world.
Chinas having kept the door closed to Western countries has meant that it
has made a belated start in fashion. After the Cultural Revolution, China
became rich and only had eyes for Western luxury brands, but at the same
time, counterfeits were also present. During the Cultural Revolution,
nationalism was instilled deeply into the Chinese people: they were educated
to love China, and fashion designs made wide use of traditional symbols.
The emerging Chinese designers, however, are trying to express a
new Chinese identity to Westerns. They prefer to interpret Chinese spirit in
their designs than to put traditional symbols on their clothes. This generations
Chinese designers attempt to remove the old China symbols imprinted in
1980s and 1990s and establish a different Chinese culture in a modern way
in the twenty-first century. Will this be the new direction for Chinese designers
competition in Western market? This article aims to analyse the obstacles that
prevent Chinese designers from designing for the Western market and to
generate a new methodology for them as references to design. The
methodology is meant especially for todays young Chinese designers.
2. Methodology
In order to find out whether Chinese people support local Chinese brands, I
conducted a survey. The survey was conducted in Hong Kong in December
2013, and asked respondents to choose the item they preferred from various
pairs of designs, one of which was in a Western and one in a Chinese style.
Questionnaires were distributed in two large Hong Kongs design institutes,
Hong Kong Design Institute and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. A
hundred questionnaires were given to each institute.
3. Analysis of the obstacles that prevented Chinese designers from
being able to design for the Western market
There are many reasons why Chinese designers cannot be as successful as
Japanese designers in the international market, despite the fact that we are
both Asian. This section will analyse the history, marketing strategy, and the
Chinese mind-set to identify the primary obstacles.
3.1. Historical Influence
Chinese designers cannot get a seat in the international market. This fact is
not only caused by a lack of creativity and ability. The extent of fashion design
development in China also decides whether designers can emerge from the
domestic market or not. Some would argue that if China actually got a
talented designer like Yohji Yamamoto, nothing would hinder designers from
appearing in the international market. However, such a talented designer is an
exception. There have been no stunning new designers from Japan in the last
30 years.
A well-developed fashion industry definitely encourages the emergence
of new talented designers. The fashion industry does not only involve art and
design, but also business and social culture. The history of fashion parallels
political and economic history (Wu, 2012). Reviewing the history of the
development of a career can help people to identify the reason for its booming
and the reason for its failure. In this chapter, I present the history of Chinese
fashion from the Han dynasty until the Republic of China.
Chinese fashion began with the first trade with the West, during the
Han Dynasty (206 BCE220 CE), who traded with the Roman Empire. The
Mongols threatened to sack the West during the Yuan Dynasty (12711368).
In the Middle Ages, Marco Polo brought the wonders of China to the attention
of the West. During the Ming Dynasty (13681644), China exported fine
ceramics to the West. Ultimately, however, the Ming destroyed its fleet and
opted for isolationism. Under the Qing Dynasty (16441911), the West forcibly
opened China to trade and conquest, and the Empire experienced a Century
of Humiliation that destroyed the Chinese economy. China had produced
approximately 25 percent of the worlds output during the Han and Ming
dynasties, but by the early twentieth century this had fallen to 9 percent
(Maddison, 2006). Chinas efforts to isolate itself from the world had exacted
an enormous cost on the Chinese people. Chinas feudalistic society broke
the only connection with Western countries, and the Chinese remained in the
ancient situation and have no chance to join the Western activities. This led to
the belated start for China fashion.
The situation persisted until revolution was proposed in 1912. Dr Sun
Yat-sen became President of the Republic of China. Sun was among the first
generation of Chinese students who had studied abroad. When he assumed
the presidency, he attempted to open China to Western ideas, including
Western fashion. Men in the cities began wearing suits, jackets, and trousers
instead of the Tang suit. In the first year, Shanghai and Hong Kong especially
accepted the change; they enjoyed a good reputation for excellent tailoring.
Since the introduction of Western fashion, a mixture had emerged, whereby
aspect of Eastern and Western fashion would be fused in a single item. This
type of clothing is known as cheongsam or qipao (Linda W. and Arthur C. M.,
2012). This was what Western countries knew about Chinese fashion until the
twenty-first century, and this is still the image of Chinese fashion in Western
countries.
However, the door did not remain open to the West for long. In 1949,
after two decades of civil war, the situation of the Ming Dynasty occurred
again. The communists won the civil war and Mao Zedong, the first Chairman
of the Peoples Republic of China, turned China inward, isolating the country
like the Ming had done 500 years before. Fashion once again became the
victim of a feudalistic society. During Chinas Cultural Revolution (196676),
Western fashion was rejected. People were forced to wear bland Mao suits in
order to present a united appearance. The Mao suit was actually an outfit
comprising jackets and pants worn by Sun Yat-sen, with only slight
differences between those for men and those for women. Under this social
system, people were brainwashed, there was no individual thinking and
absolute obedience to the order was required. Some older people continued
to wear the suit after Mao died in 1976. After Maos death in 1976, Deng
Xiaoping took control of the Party and reversed many of Maos policies,
including isolationism. This marked the true start of Chinese fashion.
However, compared with Western countries in the same period, Paris,
Milan, London, New York and Japan had already developed as fashion
centres (Wu, 2009). Chinese fashion had fallen behind before the competition
had even begun. When others Western countries had well-developed fashion
industries, Chinese fashion industries had not started to develop. When other
Western countries had established their fashion capital countries respectively,
Chinese fashion was just an infant industry. The historical influence caused
the belated start of fashion in China and the belated start caused the Chinese
to know nothing fashion
3.2. Wrong Marketing Policies
Under Deng Xiaoping, China developed rapidly. Chinas neighbors provided
the model for Deng to develop Chinas economy. Deng chose to copy Japan
and the Asian Tigers export-led path to growth, which provided a blueprint for
sustained economic growth. In the following years, everything in China
progressed rapidly, and it appeared that Deng was attempting to chase or
overtake the western countries.
The pace of Chinas economic growth has been remarkably fast.
According to Linda W. and Arthur C. M. (2012), the success of the export-led
growth strategy is evident in Chinas Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the
first thirty years of Chinas capitalism with Chinese characteristics policy,
inflation-adjusted GDP growth averaged about 10 percent, more than three
times the world average and fast enough for the economy to double in size
about every seven years.
The booming economy made China fashion only got the faade but no
connotation. In this chapter, we will focus on the mistaken marketing
strategies of Chinese fashion and the lack of knowledge of intellectual
property in China. One of the common scenes in China are empty supersized
mall and imitation international brands. The philosophy behind mall
development seems to be: build it and they will come (Linda W. and Arthur C.
M., 2012).
However, the fact is that only the coastal districts have benefitted from
the booming economy, but China on the whole remains a very poor country.
On the other hand, markets selling counterfeit goods and imitations are also
present. Those marketing policies obstruct the development of local fashion.
The success of the export-led growth strategy has made many Chinese
rich, as can been seen in the massive development in many cities. It is
perhaps not surprising to see many Western and modern style buildings in the
city centres, but it is also common that some Western style court can be seen
in the rural areas. This phenomenon can be seen in fashion retailing as well.
One of the most striking retail scenes in China is the supersized mall. There
are a great many supersized malls in Chinas first- and second-tier cities.
Whole city blocks are gutted for these giants. The mall development
managers put money toward building such giants without thinking. However,
many of the malls and high-end stores are empty (Linda W. and Arthur C. M.,
2012).
Enterprises invest their money in the empty malls rather than
supporting Chinese talent. In China, people want to have their own brand; the
only thing they want to have is enormous monetary backing, because no
support will be given from any parties. In contrast, Western countries
enterprises would give enough support. An example of this from a UK
supermall, Selfridges, is a programme called Bright Young Things. This is an
annual programme run by Selfridges that carefully chooses, develops and
promotes emerging talent in the fields of fashion, art, design and cuisine.
Each year, fifteen talents was selected for Bright Young Things, and they are
given the chance to create their own display in one of the world-famous
Oxford Street windows. With over one million people walking past the iconic
windows every week, the displays provide an incredible launch-pad for these
fledgling designers to showcase their brand vision and creations to the public
(Selfridges, 2013). Compared with Western countries, the perspectives of
people viewing fashion are totally different: in China, it appears to be seen as
a tool to earn money, whereas in the West it is seen as a type of creativity.
Almost all fashion labels in these malls are international, and it is very
rare for a local Chinese local brand to be found in the malls. Most of the shops
in Chinese supersize malls are international brands that want to find a place in
the Chinese market, such as Burberry, Gucci, and Tommy Hilfiger (Linda W.
and Arthur C. M., 2012). Such international brands are always in a multi-brand
companies system that enables global distribution and better control of the
market. International luxury brands grouped under the LVMH umbrella, as
well as Armani, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Hermes, Cartier, Prada, Gucci,
and Dolce & Gabbana have moved into China in search of the growing
middle-class market. They definitely prevent new designers from starting their
own brands, and the system makes it extremely hard for new independent
designers to enter this highly competitive market. The control of Western
enterprises is even more obvious in the most important fashion weeks.
Although the space allotted to Chinese designers during the fashion weeks
could be read as a way to be recognized, the rising talent from China is also
controlled by the well-established Western fashion world (Tiziana and Tim,
2012).
The invasion of the international brands has made every Chinese
person want to have one brand name product. Despite Chinas rapid growth,
China remains a very poor country. Thus, counterfeit or knock-off goods are
present in some markets. When people walk thought the markets, they would
be asked things such as, Lady, lady, LV, Gucci, Chanel bags or Sir, come
to have a look the latest Armani. Some knock-off American or European
brands are also present. These knock-off brands names are similar to those
of the original ones. In Chinese they are called bang mingpai, which means
they pretend famous brands. Erke, a sportswear company the name of
which is meant to mimic Nike, has a logo that looks like the swish; Clio
Coddles crocodile logo resembles that of Lacoste. Polo Villae brings to mind
Ralph Laurens Polo line through its Mongol horseman logo (Linda W. and
Arthur C. M., 2012).
In Chinese fashion, many Asian tailors and designers have been
denied the status of artist, as they are seen to be merely design technicians
for international commercial and luxury labels carrying out their manufacturing
in China (Tiziana and Tim, 2012). The retail price of sewing a brand name T-
shirt is really low-cost. China cannot just rely on the low-cost producer of
goods. China cannot capture more of the price if she just relies on being a
low-cost production country. Innovation and intellectual property are what
China needs to achieve the real profit.
3.3. Mind-set Influence
The communist-inflected nationalism that took precedence after the
establishment of the Peoples Republic of China under Communist Party
leadership in 1949 included a prominent anti-bourgeois strain (Guo, 2004;
Tao and Jin, 2004; Zheng, 1999). People in China felt that they had been
humiliated by the successive military defeats that led to unequal status for
Chinese everywhere. The history of defeat made the Chinese reluctant to
confront history, which means they cannot learn from a good history and
cannot get orientation in the international market. The Chinese were
simultaneously anti-bourgeois and also exocentric, in that they would think
their local products are not as good as those of the West. In this chapter I
provide an analysis of the survey I conducted. The survey identified which of
two similar designs, Chinese and Western, respondents preferred. The result
of the survey contradict the views of certain scholars.
Chinese nationalism is rooted in education. Christine Tsui (2013), who
was born at the beginning of the 1970s, claims that the textbooks she read
during primary and high school depicted people living in capitalist countries as
only have pecuniary interests in each other. Capitalists were depicted as
preferring to throw things away than to share them with other people, and, as
in Marxist doctrine, it was emphasised that capitalists profit by exploiting
labourers. After such information was instilled into the Chinese, the only
impression that they had of capitalist countries was that they were a group of
cruel people who did not have any of the affections and emotions that normal
human beings would have.
This propaganda of loving the nation and national traditions conforms
exactly to the cognition that is embedded in the minds of the designers
through the school system. Patriotism has always been a core theme
filtering through the Chinese education system, starting from primary school
and through to universities, since the establishment of the Peoples Republic.
Wang (2012) supports the same argument and states that nationalism itself
was an inspiration for all Chinese who learned to feel that they were
humiliated by the successive military defeats that led to unequal status for
Chinese everywhere, to extraterritorial privileges for foreign residents within
China, and to the increasing dominance of foreign enterprises on Chinese soil.
Nationalism was harnessed to anti-imperial and anti-colonial sentiment and
was the key to almost all of the political struggles of the 20th century (Wu,
2012). Given that the Chinese are this intensely influenced by nationalism, it
may be taken to imply that Chinese would be likely to support local Chinese
brands. However, the fact of the matter is the contrary.
The survey I conducted asked Chinese respondents to choose
between two designs in the same style, one from a Chinese and one from a
Western designer. The survey was conducted in Hong Kong in December
2013. Questionnaires were distributed in Hong Kong to two large design
institutes, the Hong Kong Design Institute and the Hong Kong polytechnic
University. A hundred questionnaires were given to each institute.
Interviewees were required to answer ten questions. All the questions
provided two pictures showing two garments in the same style but from
different designers and asked respondents to choose the one they liked.
Respondents were told which garment was from a Chinese designer and
which from a Western designer, but the designers names would not be
provided. According to the statistics, I separated responses into five
categories. People who chose Western designers in 8 to 10 questions were
put into group A, in 6 to 8 questions group B, 4 to 6 questions group C, 2 to 4
questions group D, and 0 to 2 questions group E. Group A comprised 76%
(152 people), and was the largest group. The following were groups C and B,
accounting for 14% (28 people) and 10% (20 people) respectively. No
respondents fell into group D. The results shows that, although Chinese
designers can make similar designs, Chinese people prefer Western designs
to Chinese. This implies that the Chinese do not really support local Chinese
brands, although they love their country very much. Chinese still feel that they
were humiliated by the successive military defeats that led to unequal status
for Chinese everywhere, and that they are hence behind the Western
countries in every respect. Christine Tsui (2013 p. 591) claimed that, It would
be weird to hear someone like John Galliano say, As an English designer I
feel it an honor to work for Dior. But it is highly likely that a Chinese designer
would say, As a Chinese designer I feel it an honor to work for Dior, if he or
she were in the position to become the chief designer of a classic European
or American brand.
Compared with Western countries, China does not have an
appreciable history for designers to follow. Tiziana and Tim (2012) mentioned
that it is difficult to find such a history because of the lack of one, and many
designers desist from using things that would explicitly connect their designs
with something inherently Chinese. Wang (2012, p.124) expressed a similar
sentiment. When he was asked what are the obstacles that prevent Chinese
designers from designing for Western countries, he answered: First, one
should not care too much about the Chinese aspect. You just need to
truthfully express yourself and find you own language from within. And your
language could cause others to resonate and to identify a common ground. If
you could touch others you would gain respect in return. There is no use to
just label a design Chinese.
The contradictory mind-set of Chinese is likely to be an obstacle for
Chinese designers. They are on the one hand intensively influenced by the
education of nationalism, and hence when doing design cannot be objective;
on the other hand, they envy Western designs and despise their own designs.
The invasion of international brands has made the Chinese only keep eyes on
them and ignore their local brands.
4. A method for Chinese designers
In light with the obstacles that impede Chinese designers, in this section I
generate seven solutions for Chinese designers to address these.
4.1. From Chinese Symbols to Chinese Spirit
All Western people know about Chinese symbols are dragons, lanterns,
peonies, and ancient palaces or locations in China, and these elements also
count as the design element for Chinese fashion. Actually, the conception of
national identity in Chinese fashion has developed from the pushing of
concrete traditional Chinese symbols to more abstract ideas about the
Chinese spirit. Compared with Chinese symbols, Chinese spirit expresses
nationalism in a more humble but also more powerful way. According to
Christine Tsui (2013), this spirit is distinguished in two particular styles. First,
the group of the Zen designers seeks to invoke oriental idea of peacefulness,
calm and harmony. Second, the group of modern China designers sources
inspiration from contemporary daily life. In the following I provide an
introduction of these two styles in order to give a guide for young designers to
design.
The Zen designers take their orientation from oriental philosophy. Zen
designers for the most part advance a spiritual message of peace, calm,
simplicity, and harmony through the use of pale and neutral colours, natural
fabrics, and simply cut shapes that flow with the body. Ma Ke, the founder of
the brand Wuyong, is an example of the practitioners of this school. Ma Ke
has claimed that Wuyong is not a fashion label but a platform for her to share
her thinking. Wuyong expresses the importance of protecting environment
and traditional culture (Ma Ke, 2006). To achieve her philosophy, she opened
a studio for Wuyong in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, hired a team of
craft workers, and directed that all aspects of the production, from fabric
weaving to the final assembly of the clothing, be done by hand. Expressing a
sentiment that echoes that of Ma Ke, Japanese designer Issey Miyake stated
that: I do not create a fashionable aesthetic. I create a style based on life,
not a life for its own sake (cited in Jouve, 1997, p.10).
Second, the Modern China designers draw inspiration from the
traditions of daily life, ordinary people and tradition culture. An example of
such is the brand Zuczug, which is a high-end casual brand aimed at young
urban people. The designer Wang Yiyang takes inspiration from the
imagination about life and daily life of ordinary people. He employs ordinary
people instead of professional fashion models for modelling in both catwalk
shows and editorial advertisements. Shanghais Urban Tribe is another
example. Begun by Jasmine Mu and Gao Ping, both of Shanghai, they
attempt to bring the peaceful lifestyle of the countryside to city. Their slogan is
Life Tracing to the Source and their logo evokes Chinas ethnic minority
groups. They have two stores in Shanghai where they sell natural fiber
clothes, jewelry, and house- wares of their own design plus photographs by
one of the founders husbands. Tea is served in a small garden at the Fuxing
Lane store. Billed as a boutique, gallery, and teahouse, It is a significant new
way to invoke modern Chinese culture.

Chinese designers are moving toward a new identity for Chinese
fashion. This new identity is no longer in the form of traditional Chinese
symbols, but is instead a conceptual theme that can be defined as spirit,
philosophy, and modern culture; nevertheless, it is still about Chinese
fashion (Tsui, 2012).
4.2. Removing old Chinese symbols
The well-established identity of Chinese fashion is qipao and some traditional
Chinese symbols that Chinese designers favour, such as dragons, lanterns,
peonies, and ancient palaces or locations in China. In the 1980s and 1990s,
the frequent use of such symbols and elements gave designs a strong
Chinese flavour (Tsui, 2012). However, in today's fashion design such design
features would be considered antiquated and hackneyed. In order to meet the
international market and to make their designs more contemporary, designers
attempted to remove such old Chinese symbols.
Frankie Xie presented his brand Jefen at Paris Fashion Week in 2006.
It was a milestone for the Chinese fashion industry, analogous to the arrival of
American and Japanese designers on Paris runways in the 1960s and 70s.
Xie stated that symbols such as peonies and qipao would always remain
superficial and misunderstood if they were not informed by a real
understanding of their cultural context. This appears to demonstrate that
Chinese designers were trying to redefine their identity. Xie dedicated his
efforts to removing the old images of Chinese fashion from the minds of
Western spectators and to replace them with a new form of Chinese culture
one that is more than merely qipaos and peonies. Xie at the same time
expressed the unshakeable position of Chinese culture in his design, and tried
to redefine Chinese culture in the minds of Western audiences.
Another example is Ma Ke. Ma Ke brought her collection, themed anti-
fashion luxury, to Haute Couture Fashion Week in 2008. The collection
included no symbols that would be facilely related to China and invoked the
feeling of naturalness and simplicity. Although there are no obvious Chinese
symbols shown on her collection, it did not prevent the spectators from feeling
its Chinese flavour. Ma Ke instead delivered the oriental philosophy in a more
innovative form than by using Chinese symbols (Eco Fashion World, 2008).
The recently emerging Chinese designer Haizhen Wang is a third
example. The winner of the prestigious 2012 Fashion Fringe, he now bases
his brand Haizhen Wang in London. When asked whether he would use
some Chinese elements in his collection, he answered that he would not
suddenly do so. He thinks that Chinese people are actually the biggest
Chinese element, in that there is spirit in our heart that cannot be stolen.
Chinese designers do not urge to show their national identity (Alexa, 2012).
They all aspired to articulate Chinese culture in their design, while
simultaneously trying to remove the qipao and dragon symbols that
characterised 1980s and 1990s Chinese design and establish a modern
Chinese culture for the twenty-first century.
4.3. Oversea Study
South Koreas and Japans fashion industries developed very well, and this
made fashion education much more popular with Asian students. More and
more Asian students have been enrolling in major design schools around the
world since the 1990s, with an especial prominence in major fashion capitals
such as New York, Paris and London. At the Fashion Institute of Technology,
almost a quarter of the nearly 1,200 students enrolled in 2010 were either
Asian or Asian-American (Wilson, 2010).
For Chinese students, studying overseas helps them to develop design
skills and exposes them to the international market. Although students
educated in foreign countries acquire Western thinking, they still think that
China is their root. There are a number of examples of designers educated in
Western universities who want to promote Chinese culture:
Zhang Huishan, born in the 1980s, studied at Central Saint Martins
College of Art and Design. He paraded his eponymous label at London
Fashion Week in February 2013. When interviewed by Vogue in 2012, he
stated, I want to promote a contemporary angle of Chinese culture (Adams
2012). Ji Cheng, who trained in an Italian fashion institute, also showed in
London in February 2013, and similarly claims to want to deliver an aesthetic
of modern China to the international audience (Chung 2012). Masha Ma
(also trained at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, who also
paraded at London Fashion Week in 2013), stated, Design from China is
more focused on the spirit of Chinese culture these years. Some people may
think that Chinese designers only emphasize the silhouette. However,
concept is not ignored. Design in China is not just expression and
accumulation of symbols and details. From the details inside a collection, you
will find the image and spirit being interpreted (Cassard 2012).
The table below provides a list showing of recently emerged Chinese
designers educated in Western countries. It can be used as a reference list for
students to research those designers and take them as a guide for their future
work.
Western-educated Chinese designers Institutes name
Huishan Zhang Central Saint Martins
Vega Zaishi Wang Central Saint Martins
Yang Du Central Saint Martins
Qiu Hao Central Saint Martins
Masha Ma Central Saint Martins
Fei Wang Central Saint Martins
Haizhen Wang Central Saint Martins
Yang Li Central Saint Martins
Alison Mary Ching Yeung Kings College
Central Saint Martins
Uma Wang China Textile University,
Central Saint Martins
Kim Kwang Central Saint Martins,
London College of fashion,
Instituto Marangoni
Yirantian Guo London College of Fashion
Kay Kwok London College of Fashion
Min Wu London College of Fashion
Xiao Li Royal College of Art
Xander Zhou, Studied in Netherlands
Chi Zhang Instituto Marangoni
Jenny Ji Instituto Marangoni
Liu Lu Parsons School of Design
Access to high-quality and industry-linked education is a key common
denominator in the background of these younger designers (Hazel 2012).
4.4. Winning International Awards
There are many talents in China, but with inadequate opportunities and
support for young designers, they cannot obtain recognition and promote
themselves. By participating in international design competitions, young
Chinese designers will get the chance to expose themselves in the
international market, and, if they win the competition, would also be given
financial support for their products and world-wide promotion. This paragraph
provides four examples of Chinese fashion designers who started their brands
by winning international competitions and introduce some other internationals
competitions for young designers.
First, Kay Kwok, a Hong Kong born menswear designer, studied for a
Bachelor's degree in womens wear at Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
later obtaining a Master's in mens wear from the London College of Fashion
in 2012. In the same year, he won the MITTELMODA The Fashion Award
2012. After that, the magazine GQ China sponsor a show of his in the London
Collection Men in 2014, an event whose runway shows included heavyweight
names such as Alexander McQueen, Paul Smith and Tom Ford.
Second is Haizhen Wang. After graduating from Central Saint Martins
in 2005, he worked in different design houses for five years. In 2010 he
established his own womens wear brand, and two years after this he won the
Fashion Fringe 2012. The award brought with it six months sponsorship at
The Centre for Fashion Enterprise, and sponsored his fashion shows for two
years.
Third, Min Wu, who was born in China, graduated from London College
of Fashion in 2013 with a Masters in womens wear. Wu has gained much
success in her short career, including a place in Fashion Scouts
internationally acclaimed graduate showcase which took place during London
Fashion Week in 2013. For Autumn/Winter 2014, Wu will be presenting her
collection with Fashion Scout in London Fashion Week.
Fourth, Xiao Li graduated from Royal College of Art in 2013 and won
the Diesel Award at ITS 2013. The award consists of a cash prize of 25,000
that the winner can use, without limitations, to promote their work in the best
possible way and to invest in their career. In addition, the winner will be
offered an internship within the Diesel Creative Team at its HQ in Italy to
discover all the secrets of working in a unique, innovative and international
fashion environment.
Finally, Yang Li is a 24-year-old Central Saint Martins dropout. He was
a finalist of the Andam Fashion Award 2013. He has his own brand based in
London and has regularly presented at London Fashion Week. He is the only
Chinese designer whose productions are sold in the luxury London fashion
shop LN-CC.
Apart from the above mentioned international competition, there are
two other famous competitions, the Hyres Festival and LVMH Prize, both of
which are accessible for international students.
4.5. Hybrid Culture
According to Niessen et al. (2003), Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Issey
Miyake (whom he calls the big three) made a clear statement that they did
not recognize any close connection between their collections and Japanese
national culture, and they insisted that their design developed within a popular
culture and was inspired by contemporary Western culture as well. The up-
and-coming talent Damir Doma present a similar case. Damir Doma is a
Parisian fashion label founded by Damir Doma and Paper Rain, whose works
are concordantly linked by a sense of uniform, just like costumes (Damir
Doma, 2006). When a journalist asked Damir whether his collections are
influenced by Chinese culture, he responded that he does not distinguish
between what is referred to as Asian or European styles, but that he is trying
to mix them up and present in his own way and feels that this works very well
in his collections (Ssense, 2012).
According to Christine Tsui (2013), today, some young Chinese
designers even aim to play with Western culture. Wang Haizhen has stated
that his brand aims to reinterpret British tradition (www.haizhenwang.co.uk).
From having restrained their use of traditional Chinese symbols to having
moved to a position where they reflect a Chinese spirit in a Western form,
some young Chinese designers are now even reconstructing Western culture.
Such progress demonstrates the growing confidence of Chinese designers
with their design skills and their national culture in an international frame.
This adoption of Western features only gives the designers works a
certain unique flavour, but it cannot subvert them from their deep Chinese
roots.
4.6. Going Green Fashion
In the West, the idea of eco-fashion has caught designers attention. People
are paying more attention to environmentally friendly products. Chinese
national identity and handicrafts perfectly match the trend. In this section I
introduce Chinese eco-friendly fabric and the competition EcoChi Design
Award.
Mud-coated silks have been used since the fifth century. In recent
years, the fabrics have come to be used in the fashion industry again for high-
end and luxury textiles. Fashion designers with concrete Chinese cultural
roots would more like to use these types of fabrics. These silks are specialty
products of Guangdong and enjoy a good reputation due to their purely
natural dyeing and processing techniques, as well as their cultural
significance. The production process of mud-coated silks is harmless for the
environment and is also seasonal, so these fabrics are rare and valuable. This
also implies their exclusiveness to China, such as Harris Tweed that is only
sold in the United Kingdom. Young designers can talk about this or explore
more exclusive Chinese productive to make them distinct in the Western
market. (Shu and Kelly, 2012).
The EcoChi Design Award is a sustainable fashion design competition.
It aims to inspire more emerging fashion designers and students to do eco-
friendly design. On each competition cycle, they will take designers on an
education and design journey lasting several theory- and design-packed
months. First, they educate developers on the negative environmental impact
of the fashion industry and sustainable design techniques. Secondly they
provide designers with tools (such as lectures, videos, articles, and links) to
recommend that they develop their understanding of sustainable fashion. The
winner of this award shows their designs in fashion capitals on trips to them
(EcoChi, 2011).
Eco-fashion is going to be the main trend in fashion design throughout
the world, as people come to pay more attention to the pollution created in the
production process. As Chinese fabric technique and Chinese thinking match
quite well with eco-fashion, Chinese young designers should have a trail on it.
4.7. Seeking Identity
The appearance of the big three in the 1980s produced an enormous
change in fashion design, leading to the introduction of flat shapes and loose,
body-skimming garments that are the stereotype of Asian designers style.
Chinese young designers have found it difficult to establish a new oriental
identity in the international market. Thus, seeking a new identity is what
today's young Chinese designers want to do, in order to distinguish
themselves from Japanese fashion and to overtake it. Wang (2012) argued
that Chinese fashion has not established its own style and language.
Western markets pay attention to Chinese designers only because they are
foreigners in the Western market, not because their designs attract them. But
how can Chinese designer establish an acceptable new identity? Hongxing
and Parker (2008) suggested that they should endeavour to keep their
commercial work separate from their more creative endeavours. Ma Ke did
something like this for the 2008 for Paris Haute Couture show, and it has
been referred to as a dualistic approach.
5. Conclusion
Traditional Chinese culture has affected Chinese designers for a long time.
Chinese designers favoured using dragons, lanterns, peonies or other such
traditional Chinese elements in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, some emerging
Chinese designers are trying to remove such outdated Chinese images and
want to present a contemporary spiritual Chinese culture. Instead of delivering
Chinese culture in an explicit, direct, and exterior form, they have switched to
conveying Chinese fashion in a subtle, indirect, and hidden form. This may be
the new direction for China fashion. However, it is the very beginning of
modern Chinese fashion, so there are very few designers doing so. Chinese
fashion still does not even count in the Western market, but I think that of
China continues to expand its fashion industry in the coming future, Chinese
designers could take a seat in the West or may even lead the fashion trend.
Wang (2012) also mentioned that we will follow Japans path to consume
international products but not as fast, due to the steep difference in
consumption power. Juanjuan Wu (2009) mentions that Chinese fashion
designers have come to the forefront of fashion creation and their creativity
and authenticity are marking Chinese fashion in the new millennium. Today,
Chinese fashion designers creations are as dramatic as European haute
couture. Some Western fashion brands such as Damir Doma, Rick Owens
and InAisce est. adopt Chinese culture to design and are very famous in the
West. I think the Chinese can do better than them in using Chinese culture in
fashion design, because Chinese culture is our root, and it cannot be stolen or
imitated. China is famous for her manufactories and a large amount of
products are made in China. Made in China is a remarkable label, but the
emerging designers should be dedicated to change it to created in China
and show the West that we Chinese also have innovation and creativity.
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Juanjuan, W. (2012) Imagination + Life: Wang Yiyangs Design Core, Fashion
Practice 4(1), 124.
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Appendix A

QUESTIONAIRE
This survey compares Chinese and Western fashion. The following questions
show two pictures. One is from a Chinese designer, one is from a Western
designer. Pleasure choose the one that you prefer.

1. Picture A is from a Chinese designer, picture B a Westerner.
A B
A (Yang Li S/S 2013); B (COS S/S 2012)

2. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B
A (LuLu Liu F/W 2011); B (Vivienne Westwood. S/S 2009)

3. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B= designer.
A B
A (Xander Zhou F/W 2014); B (J.W. Anderson S/S 2013)



4. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B
A (Uma Wang S/S 2012); B (InAisce F/W 2011)

5. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B
A (Kay Kwok S/S 2014) B (Lee Roch A/W 2013)

6. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B
A (Haizhen Wang F/W 2013); B (Gareth Pugh F/W 2012)

7. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B
A (Simon Gao F/W 2014); B (Celine Resort 2014)




8. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B
A (Qiu Hao S/S 2012); B (Rick Owens A/W 2013)

9. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B
A (Ziggy Chen S/S 2012); B (Damir Doma S/S 2010)

10. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.
A B

A (Masha Ma F/W 2010); B (Silent S/S 2010)