What comes to mind when you hear "made in China?"
Mass-produced products?
Low-quality clothing?
A group of China's innovative, young designers are aiming to change, and have been changing, this perception.
Although Chinese shoppers are traditionally known for focusing on Western luxury brands, a new generation of designer brands is gradually gaining attention, especially in the international fashion scene.
Here, let's take a closer look at some of the Chinese designer brands, emerging and established, that you should know.
Uma Wang
Established her label in 2005, Wang has built a cult following in both China and Europe for her signature designs with long and loose silhouettes. The Central Saint Martins graduate has been named one of Vogue Italia's up-and-coming designers to watch for and is dubbed "China's hottest emerging designer" by Business of Fashion. She is a regular at Milan Fashion Week and her collections have also been shown in London and Paris.
Wang's designs often mix-and-match different fabrics and textures, with hand-knitted dresses and cardigans featuring rich fabrics and sculptural shapes.
Masha Ma
Ma is known for her chic, futuristic aesthetic with her namesake label, which is launched in 2008 between Paris and Shanghai. With 10 stand-alone stores in China and 80 others planned for her diffusion line in the next five years, Masha Ma is expected to be the biggest Chinese designer fashion label. Ma's designs are inspired by London's underground culture where she honed her style. Some of her known fans include Lady Gaga and Naomi Campbell.
Huishan Zhang
With his eponymous label launched in 2010, Zhang's pieces have been archived by the Victoria & Albert Museum in addition to being stocked at Browns in the UK and Barney's in the United States. While studying at Central Saint Martins, Zhang was chosen to work at the Dior haute couture atelier. Her artistic and sophisticated designs have later won him Dorchester Fashion Prize and Chinese Designer of the Year by Elle China. Zhang is now a regular at London Fashion Week.
Influenced by his connection to both the East and the West, his East-meets-West designs blends Zhang's Chinese heritage with western contemporary styles, often feature embroidered Chinese tropes such as pagodas.
Guo Pei
Before her design entered the global consciousness when Rihanna wore her yellow gown to the 2015 Met Gala, Guo is best known in China for designing dresses for the hosts and performers at CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, an event which pulls in some 700 million viewers. Named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2016, that same year Pei became a guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture and showed her first collection on the Paris schedule.
This China's homegrown designer, inspired by her Chinese heritage, made her name known for extravagant creations with intricate workmanship.
Helen Lee
Following her graduation from the Raffles Design Institute and two years working in Japan, Helen Lee has made her name a synonym with Shanghai fashion, with her three brands: Insh, Helen Lee and Perfect Moment. With a strong cult following in China, Lee is also expanding overseas, with Lane Crawford and David Jones stockings, and a recent fashion show in Los Angeles.
Lee mix-and-match her fashion-forward design with cool but colorful and playful looks, especially for young Chinese women.
