London Fashion Love Letters: Fashion Shenzhen

Hi Perm,

I didn’t yet tell you about Fashion Shenzhen, an event that airmailed me from London to China to a city called Shenzhen yesterday.

I had no clue what to expect but collections from China. Entering the exhibition that took place before the actual fashion show, I already felt like I was in another country. Extremely friendly Chinese people welcomed me at the lobby and walked me with a small group of people to the entrance of the exhibition, where another one of them was waiting with a big smile and a tray of champagne. The expo was like a little fashion fair with stands from different brands and designers, all of whom came for Shenzhen. I strolled around with that ”I’m all right thanks, just looking around” face you always put on when shopping, but it didn’t fool the staff: oh no, they were determined to guide me through the collections. I literally got my own translator (that’s how he called himself), who walked with me from stand to stand.

The variety of styles was vast: whereas many brands had a traditional approach to Chinese fashion, others looked very European. After spending a good time at the expo, everyone gathered in a big room. At this point, I noticed how different the event was from the ones I had been to before. First of all, 80 % of the people around had Chinese origins. Some 50% of them didn’t speak English (which sort of explains why the new friend of mine had called himself a translator). However, the most interesting difference was that the whole event was quite formal: it wasn’t just another fashion hullabaloo, but an important milestone to the fashion industry of Shenzhen.

After toasting and listening to speeches, it was finally time to start the show. It definitely satisfied everybody hungry for Asian fashion, as we saw not one but two different collections. The first one was from a designer called Haiping Xie. He had combined the traditional Chinese design nicely with materials that scuplted the Eastern appeal into innovative silhouettes.

The second collection from a brand called Ground Show was very different from the first one: whereas that one was elegant, Ground Show was snug. The designs almost screamed wanting to be worn on lazy Sundays. Not sure how well the fashion crowd would swallow this one, but for sure it’ll please the ones who go for cute and comfy.

How was the rest of your Fashion Week weekend?

Emmi