Vogue event celebrates China’s emerging fashion chic

By He Jianwei
More and more Chinese models and designers have been appearing at international fashion weeks. “Fashion is another way for Westerners to now Chinese culture, though it is just the beginning for us,” Wang Wei, the first Chinese fashion designer to appear at London Fashion Week in 2006, said at aVogue celebration last Friday commemorating the magazine’s ffth year in China.
The party, which was at Sanlitun Village North, showcased more than 200 photos by fashion photographers both home and abroad, such as Peter Lindbergh, Patrick Demarchelier and Chen Man. The photos, which also show off costumes by up-and-coming Chinese designers, are still on display.
“I am particularly proud  and I know all my colleagues are – that there are many Chinese models who are now up there in the internationalranks, with many ethnic Chinese designers now becoming household names,”Vogue China editorial director Angelica Cheung said.
Wang is one of the designers the magazine has collaborated with extensively in the past five years. A graduate of Shanghai’s Donghua University as a fashion design major, he actually started his art career at the age of 4 when he attended national children’s art exhibitions four times inhe 1980s.
In 1997, Wang worked as chief designer for the late Chen Yifei, a successful painter who turned his celebrity status as an artist into a lucrative fashion business under the brand Layefe. In 2003, Wang flew to London and started to develop his own brand, Wang Wei Gallery.
His designs combined Western techniques with Eastern philosophy.
“My experience in London taught me that design not only deals with art, but is also a kind of business. Besides techniue, you must know how to promote your product,” Wang said. “But in our education system, the students only learn how to draw.It is not easy to discern the Chinese influence in Wang’s designs, which look typically Westrn. “But if you take a second look, it shows a beauty of peace,” he said. “Contrary to Westerners, we are more implici we will not kiss to express our love, but silently look at your eyes.”Wang admitted that it is too early to say whether the time has come for Chinese designers, but he is optimistic about the next 10 years. “If we understand the market deeply, young Chinese designers will have more opportunity in the Western fashio world,” he said.

The Best of Vogue China Five Years Exhibition
Where: Building 6, Sanlitun North Village, 19 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District
When: Daily until September 11, 10 am – 6 pmAdmission: Free
Tel: 5963 1681