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China fashions its own future
2019-09-30 
A model presents a dress designed by Guo Pei. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Homespun couture a cut above the rest.

In December 1978, a middle-aged French man in an oversized drop-shoulder wool coat, strode across the streets of Beijing and caused a scene among local residents. In the following days, he caused an even bigger stir when he climbed atop the Great Wall and struck a victory pose with his arms.

The man was Pierre Cardin, the first Western fashion designer to visit China shortly after the country announced its policy of opening-up and reform to the world.

Three months later, the designer and entrepreneur organized the country's first fashion show at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing by not only flying in 220 haute couture outfits from his archives, but also 12 professional models and a team of photographers, curators and stylists from Paris. Xinhua News Agency reported on the second day of the show, in an exclusive to apparel industry insiders, that the "variety of colors on runway contrasted sharply with the uniform black and gray of the audience".

Dresses designed by Roberto Cavalli, Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Dior for House of Dior highlight elements of Chinese culture. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Over the following decade, the "Marco Polo of the 20th century", as he was dubbed by the Chinese media, continued to make headlines in China. He set up shows on the Great Wall and at the Forbidden City, and opened them to the public for the first time-one of the events attracted an audience of 10,000 people. He also sent nine Chinese models to Paris to attend the fashion week there and to take part in a motorcade which saw the qipao-clad models being driven under the Arc de Triomphe in convertible cars flying the five-starred red flag.

By the late 1990s, Cardin had not only successfully persuaded Chinese consumers that any attire with the logo of his eponymous brand was the ultimate symbol of status, wealth and refinement, but he also proved to the world that the nation, a textile manufacturing giant, could also become a prodigious consumer of garments.

The first Western brand to be convinced by this was Italian luxury menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna, which in 1991 made its Chinese debut by opening up its first fashion boutique in Beijing.

Dresses designed by Roberto Cavalli, Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Dior for House of Dior highlight elements of Chinese culture. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Today, as China has risen to become the largest single market for the century-old fashion house, accounting for about one-third of its global sales, Ermenegildo Gildo Zegna, the fourth-generation helmsman of the family business, noted that his company's achievements "would not have happened if it hadn't taken the market seriously by making an early entry, building the right store, and continuing to invest in new things."

But it was only after the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton, which made its first foray into China a year after Zegna-opening a store in the same building-that Chinese interest in fashion and luxury piqued across all demographics: old and young, men and women alike.

According to Yves Carcelle, the late CEO of Louis Vuitton who pushed for this expansion, he believed China was "sophisticated" and would "one day become the world's biggest superpower", despite being often asked by Chinese reporters at the time about the reasons for coming to China, since the "people didn't understand luxury."

By 2001, as China joined the WTO and saw numerous fashion and luxury brands pour in, the 19th-century French luggage maker stood out as one of the most coveted brands to be snapped up by Chinese consumers both at home and abroad.

Dresses designed by Roberto Cavalli, Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Dior for House of Dior highlight elements of Chinese culture. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 2018, annual luxury spending by Chinese consumers exceeded 770 billion yuan, accounting for more than one-third of the world's total, according to McKinsey & Co.

The global management consultancy firm also forecast then that 2019 would be the first year that China would replace the US as the world's largest market for fashion and luxury.

According to the China National Textile and Apparel Council, the country consumed 45.6 billion items of clothing in 2017, 66 times that of 1978. Spending on apparel has increased by over a factor of 100 in the four decades since 1978, reaching 2.87 trillion yuan in 2017.

But China has not only racked up sales and driven consumption over the decades. As a civilization spanning thousands of years, its culture and traditions have also provided a rich and constant source of inspiration for designers the world over.

At the annual exhibition held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2015, around 130 haute couture dresses and ready-to-wear pieces showcasing the impact of Chinese design on Western fashion were curated and put on display.

Designer Guo Pei. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Titled China: Through the Looking Glass, the exhibition included works from almost every recognized designer and iconic houses from the 20th century fashion industry, including Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford.

Andrew Bolton, who spent two years organizing the exhibition, explained to Vogue that the main aim of the event was to "recast Orientalism in a more positive light as an exchange of ideas and an honored source of influence".

Another surprise at the exhibition was a showcase of work by contemporary Chinese designer, Guo Pei.

As one of the most memorable red carpet moments at the event's opening ceremony, footage of a yellow cape gown with tails extending 4.88 meters went viral when Rihanna entered the spotlight wearing it. Dubbed as the "omelet dress" due to its resemblance to the breakfast staple, the piece was a creation by China's first homegrown master couturier.

French models, led by designer Pierre Cardin, take to the catwalk at China's first fashion show at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing in March 1979. [Photo/Xinhua]

A combination of China's traditional craftsmanship-some 50,000 hours of embroidery work went into its creation-and the classic A-line silhouette of haute couture, the dress weighed around 25 kilograms.

"People used to say there is no such thing as high-end couture, the epitome of aesthetics and skills, in China. But now that attitude is changing," said Guo.

In 2016, the Beijing-born designer became the first Chinese national to have her creations shown at Paris Couture Week.

"Fashion reflects the tastes of the age and the feelings of the people. Now Chinese people's tastes show a kind of national spirit, so through my designs I try to reflect the current place in which Chinese people find themselves. I try to interpret national sentiment," said Guo.

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