TrendWarriors

Wednesday, March 27 was the China Fashion and Creativity Forum, held in the afternoon at the Great Hall of the People.

It was an honor to be invited to speak at this event. Other presenters were the President of the Shandong RUYI Group, Jane Stockel, CMG from Sincere Creations in Hong Kong, Berit Bergesson from NCS in Sweden, Mr. Ronnie Luo from Leeds University in London, and Mr. Hmano Ysuhiro, a architectural planning expert from Tokyo, Japan.

Topics ranged from urban planning to the rise of Chinese innovation and design. Mr. Liang, the Chairman of the China Fashion Color Association stated China is no longer content to copy the designs it creates. They want the motto to change from “Made in China” to “Designed in China.” Based on the products I’m seeing in China today, I can certainly see this being the case.

The President of the Shandong RUYI Group talked about how China is evolving with the times. Since the 1980s, there has been increasing importance of lifestyle values in China: housing, vacation, pleasure, clothes, moral values and social values all come into play.

In fashion, they have seen how clothing has adapted to lifestyle based on ACTIVITIES. For outdoor use, there are rugged and adaptable clothing for different weather climates. For social events there are ballroom gowns. For the workplace, suits and business wear.

Fashion has also changed with technology. Biological materials can detect poisons in the air, extreme exposure to solar energy, or germs and organisms that may attack the body. Clothing can now improve the standards and living conditions of the people who own and wear them. Fabrics have been developed in China that are waterproof, stainproof, and have protective memories on the surface of the fabrics.

Healthy living is a KEY FACTOR in Chinese society. The question for the future will be not only HOW China catches up with the market and the world, but HOW and WHAT does it contribute to the world and environmental considerations?

Jane Stockel’s presentation was of particular interest. Her topic covered China’s influence on Europe’s fashion and home deco products. She mentioned how classical Asian elements are stronger than before, but reinterpreted for a European market. The traditional red Chinese lantern, for example, might be shown in a neutral color palette of off-white, sand or brown. Split bamboo might be painted black for an outdoor seating arrangement. Chinese door locks are used as elements on candles, and wallpapers with Asian motifs are seen everywhere.

The colors of China are eye-catching as well–red with hot pink is very eye catching, both colors symbolize good luck. Colors like these are found in cross-cultural shops like Shanghai Tang. Products in this retailer are designed for western tastes with Asian colors, themes and embellishments.

The last event I attended during China Fashion Week was the 2007 Grand Color Awarding Ceremony at the headquarters of the China Fashion Color Institute. Chinese design glitterati from all over the country congregated to see who would win color design honors in the fields of architecture, product development for electronics and household goods, transportation, and of course, fashion. It felt like we were at the Oscars!

Between the entertainment, speeches and trophy presentations, we saw four fashion shows featuring some of the best Chinese fashion collections for Spring/Summer 2008.

My favorites were the purple collection and the green/forest/yellow collection. Here is a preview:

I had some time one sunny afternoon to take a walk down Wangfujing Street and watch the pedestrians. Aside from the urban black that you see in any city, the Chinese are particularly fond of wearing color. Lots of brights are out for spring in women’s fashion:

- pinks
- vivid purple
- vibrant sporty yellow
- purple
- sapphire blue

Over-sized handbags are everywhere. Embroidered jeans and Che Guevera motifs on t-shirts and tote bags. Young looks showed tall boots with short skirts over colored tights. Here are a few snapshots:

-Street Clothes in Beijing-

On March 26, the China Fashion Color Association had a kick off event at the Aimer Lingerie headquarters in downtown Beijing.

The Aimer brand name originates from the French word for “love and favor”. The CEO and founder of Aimer, Mr. Zhang Rongming, was celebrating his company’s 15th Anniversary (1993-200 by opening a lingerie museum in the upper floor of his office complex. He gave visitors, press and VIPs a tour of the office complex that included many luxuriously appointed conference rooms, a showroom floor displaying the most beautiful lingerie I had ever seen, a fashion show on the upper floor, and later a museum grand opening ceremony. The gallery is dedicated to the history, beauty, and cultural significance of women’s under garments in modern life.

It was a gorgeous day, I just had to get out.

The concierge at the Wangfujing Grand hotel was kind enough to set me up on a tour of a hutong neighborhood not far from here. I had been curious to see one, since they seem to be all around this neighborhood behind the Forbidden City. I’m not adventurous enough to go into one by myself. These are tight-knit communities, and besides, I’d get lost in the rabbit-warren like maze of narrow alleys and lanes.

The hutongs are the ancient neighborhoods in Beijing. The word “hutong” is derived from the Mongolian language meaning “water well.” These houses were designed to be a multi-family dwellings, although a single wealthy family might occupy one. They say there is security in numbers, and anywhere from four to seven families might live under the connected roof. Each family’s quarters are divided by walls for privacy, and they face out into a common court yard that is shared by all.

Today, hutong neighborhoods are being bulldozed by the thousands in the name of progress. The government was embarrassed by the ghetto-looking appearance of many, and began to tear them down while making improvements for the Olympics. Throughout Beijing, these ancient places of security and family life are being reduced to mournful piles of dust and rubble. A movement began several years ago to save the hutong, as it is now recognized these ancient dwellings are part of the Chinese culture.

A rickshaw driver took an English speaking guide through one of the renovated hutongs. We hadn’t gone far into the neighborhood when I realized why it would NOT have been a good idea for me to go here alone. All of the tall gray walls began to look the same after awhile, I would have been lost for hours! I asked the guide why the hutong were painted gray. She said it was the color of the common people–only the emperor was permitted to use ochre gold or red on his buildings.

We stopped to visit the lovingly renovated home of a well-to-do family. We walked through two entrances and found ourselves in a sunny courtyard. I say they were wealthy because they had a new Ikea kitchen, modern furniture, and electronics in every room. The vines and plants in the arboretum were healthy and blooming. Birds chirped in a cage, and goldfish swam in a huge bowl on the floor in the dining area. It was really an idyllic little space compared to much of what you see in this developing nation. As I stood out in the courtyard admiring the plum tree, it dawned on me there was no noise, no traffic sounds or voices carrying. I thought, “If I lived in Beijing, I would want to live here…right here.”

A little later, we went to another house and listened to the story of another Chinese woman. She had grown up outside of Beijing, but had moved to the hutong with her husband and raised her daughter there. We were offered green tea, apples and peanuts as a snack, which I thought was really kind of her.

I arrived in Beijing yesterday, it is Easter weekend.

China Fashion Color Association has invited me back to speak at their Fashion Week forum next week. I’m excited to see Emma Zhang and Mr. Zhou again. Jane Stockel CMG from Sincere Creations, Hong Kong is going to be here as well to give a presentation. Chiemi will arrive later next week for a visit as well. I’ve told her she should be a speaker at one of these events–the Chinese are just as interested in Japanese design as they are in European or American trends

As far as I could tell, everything is still changing in the capital of China. The 8/8/08 Summer Olympic deadline is creating a high pitched hum in the entire city. My hotel was on Wangfujing Street, which is the high end shopping area. I went back and forth up and I’d already visited the Forbidden City, and I had visited the Summer Palace last summer when Linda and Lane were here. There were day tours going out to the Great Wall, but I didn’t want to venture too far in case the threatening storm clouds broke loose.

So I hired a car and went back to my favorite haunt, the Da Shan Zi art zone in the Chaoyang District. This is probably my third or fourth visit to the neighborhood. It is always fun to come here, the energy and creativity is inspiring. The area is filled with studios, galleries, shops and cafes. Some of the best contemporary art in China can be found here. However, there are many changes going on to prepare for the Olympics. The streets were muddy from recent rains. There was such a labyrinth of new sidewalks, alleys and driveways, I could not find my favorite coffee house. The little clothing boutique I had looked forward to visiting was now gone, dismantled to make way for a new art space. Still, it was an interesting mix of beauty along with the earth-quake like disruption of road construction. All in the name of progress.

At the FANGART gallery I found a terrific installation called “Flying White.” It was very emotional for me to see the connection between ancient Chinese abstraction and new innovation. The Chinese artist Wu Yang has done urban landscapes using the ancient Chinese technique called “liu bai” of leaving open areas of white space so the subject (painted in black calligraphic brush strokes) leaps from the painting. The white space is intended to allow the imagination to run free. All of the canvases are in black and white, and she paints acrylic on photographic paper. Interesting technique. I think the proportion of black strokes with open white space leaves a feeling of “silence”. For such a noisy and crowded urban environment as modern Chinese cities, I found it comforting.

If anyone is going to Beijing for the Olympics this summer, this place is a MUST SEE cultural visit in Beijing, offering a slice of what young, contemporary and urban life offers. It is considered off the beaten path, but not for long…