BEIJING — China Fashion Week welcomed a French invasion last week when
eight Paris-based designers staged a show to much fanfare in the
country’s capital. The show, part of “The Year of France in China” — a
cultural exchange between the two countries that began in October — was
a highlight of the week’s events, helping to promote French designers
in the Chinese market and give China Fashion Week some international
attention.
It
was pushing-room only during the fashion show, as hundreds of press and
local personalities crammed into the ballroom of the Beijing Hotel and
clamored for a spot where they could get a good view. Many more
onlookers not lucky enough to have invitations milled around in the
lobby outside, hoping for a glimpse from afar. The designers from Paris
did not disappoint, sending a flurry of Chinese and foreign models down
the runway in everything from slinky snakeskin sheaths to slouchy
deconstructed skirts.
“China is an important, growing market
and we want to help facilitate the relationship between our countries,”
said Didier Grumbach, president of the French Fashion Federation, which
cosponsored the event. Last year, France hosted six designers from
China for a show during Paris Fashion Week.
The Parisian
designers — Stéphanie Coudert, Anne-Valérie Hash, Adam Jones, Marc le
Bihan, Lutz, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Richard René and Gaspard
Yurkievich — all were chosen because of their international sales,
particularly in the U.S. and Japan, Grumbach said. Their presence also
lent an air of legitimacy to China Fashion Week, as one country looking
to build up its local design scene shared the stage with a fashion
powerhouse that’s been doing this for decades.
“Their arrival
brings opportunities for Chinese designers to know more about Western
culture and French design,” said Wang Qing, president of the China
Fashion Association. “These events are important for improving our
designers’ skills and creating future business opportunities.”
The
foreign exchange helped introduce the Paris designers to a growing
retail market many hope to enter. “I’d love to break into the Chinese
market,” said Jones, a British designer who showed African
safari-inspired looks. “For those of us in the high-end luxury market,
selling in China is the next logical step.”
René used the
China show to preview his first couture line, which will debut in Paris
in January. “Obviously, I am saving the big surprises for the January
show,” he said, “but this is a good chance for me to show parts of the
collection and see how the response is.”
If the initial
audience reaction was any indication, his upcoming collection should
garner a lot of attention. René, whose designs closed the show, sent
his first model down the runway in a tight, short sheath with no
armholes, dramatically trapping her arms to her sides under the fabric
and prompting one Chinese guest to gasp, “Her dress has no arms!”
Hidden zippers were later opened along the sides, setting the model’s
arms free in a flamboyant display of high fashion.
“I think
[the Chinese audience] was a little surprised at the show,” said le
Bihan, whose feminine designs included asymmetrical hemlines and ball
skirts. “It was a little more couture, a little less ready-to-wear than
they normally see.”
Despite that, he was pleased: “They may not be used to such designs, but the response we got was very positive.”
— B.L.
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