While China is eager to have more emerging designers enter the market, it is also especially important to back them in the leap.

As an emerging brand, JACQUES WEI launched its 2021 autumn-winter collection on April 10 during Shanghai Fashion Week with the support from highend department store Lane Crawford and emerging designer platform LABELHOOD.

Displaying various forms of inspiration from retro tones to art deco decor of the '70s, the just-launched collection was the second appearance of JACQUES WEI at the fashion week since it was established in 2020.

"I only want to provide the best design and products to consumers instead of making money when I launch the brand," said Wei Donghui, founder and designer of JACQUES WEI. After studying fashion design at Atelier Chardon Savard in Paris, France, Wei returned to China in 2019 after working in Paris for several years.

His first season was launched in April last year, about the time that Lane Crawford started their support.

"While most of the fashion buyers are conservative about new brands and don't even take a look at us, especially during the epidemic, Lane Crawford recognized JACQUES WEI and placed a large order," said Wei.

Following the leading power in the market, other buyers started to pay attention to the emerging designer Wei, who later stood out from hundreds of designers in the Global Creative Call Out competition by Lane Crawford and was given an award as well as comprehensive support, including a 100,000-yuan ($15,449) sponsorship fund.

"I was surprised to know that I won the award from Lane Crawford to support cutting-edge designers. It enabled me to improve the layout of the show, the model, the backstage, and other aspects of the fashion show so that I had this wonderful display," said Wei.

Wei spent around four to five months preparing the show under special support, but everything became easier than previous times when he had to do all preparation with limited funds.

"Lane Crawford's support enables young designers like me to do what they want to do unrestricted by money, exposure, or other conditions," said Wei.

According to Wei, lack of sales channels and support is one of the biggest challenges for emerging designers. Meanwhile, the e-commerce platform Tmall released a designer survival report in 2018 sharing a similar viewpoint and pointed out that channels and supply chains are the two major concerns of original designers.

One original fashion designer, Chen Peng, who recently won the 2021 YU PRIZE, said that most designers do not know where to sell their products and have no supply chain to support their manufacturing.

Another fashion designer Angel Chen pointed out that the number of independent designers is much less than the number of commercial brands. Consequently, they lose out on large orders.

Launched in 2015, the Global Creative Call Out has promoted more than 80 brands. It provides marketing strategies, supporting channels, as well as special funds to original brands.

In 2019, Lane Crawford cooperated with LABELHOOD to support the designers on the LABELHOOD platform. So far, four designers have launched their collections with the support, including Wei.

"Buyers have a clear purpose to place an order, that is the products have commercial values and can sell well. The dilemma that many designers may encounter is that they might not have a good platform to balance their commerciality," Wei said.

So far, the products of JACQUES WEI are on display in Lane Crawford malls in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu.

According to Wei, the brand will add more lifestyle products, including furniture.

"There must be a large number of competitive domestic brands to stand out under the emerging fashion market in China, and the support and promotion from platforms such as Lane Crawford, LABELHOOD, and even livestreaming celebrity Li Jiaqi, will provide a good environment for local designers.," Wei said.