Bono Zhang, lead singer of Shanghai indie band Banana Monkey, moves from concert stages to the catwalk, making noise with his and Danni Tang’s alternative fashion label, Where What Who.

It was the most attention-grabbing show at Shanghai Fashion Week last month. Foot-thumping industrial music filled the air, as Where What Who’s edgy and erratic collection made its fashion week debut on the runway.

Animalistic and out-of-this-world designs dominated 'Freak Planet', Where What Who’s 2010 fall/winter collection. Though the label’s designers and founders, Danni Tang and Banana Monkey front man Bono Zhang, have been in the game for less than a year, their aggressive show at Shanghai Fashion Week was all about fashion-forward thinking.

“The inspiration of our collection is about looking many years into the future, a sort of fantasy about what the world may look like 50 years, a hundred years, from now,” Zhang says.

'Freak Planet' consisted of evolutionary and post-modern elements: A skin-tight sleeveless dress with strips of black fur; a wool cashmere coat with voluminous pleats and folds along its collar and backside, like extensions on a body; and the creation of new silhouettes, seen with their rounded black zippered jacket that had neither sleeves nor arm holes in sight.

The label’s name, Where What Who, was inspired by Zhang and Tang’s love for free-spirited fashion.

“Originally, our target market was for ages 23 to 35, and skinny people, really high fashion people. But it’s not only this – now our customers include people in their 40s and 50s,” says 24 year old Tang, who studied fashion marketing at the Bradley Academy For the Visual Arts in Pennsylvania.

“Our name, Where What Who, means that it doesn’t matter where you’re going, what you wear, or who wears this. If you love it you can wear it,” she adds. “A lot of designers in China have their own muse or they only want one type of person to wear their style. For us, it’s different – we don’t care.” 

A common love for rock and roll and retro style brought Zhang and Tang together. Ling Feng, Banana Monkey’s bassist and Tang’s close friend, introduced the two at a show in 2007, and not long after, they began discussing the idea of establishing their own brand.

The duo opened their first boutique last November, taking over the location of an old dumpling house on Xingguo Lu in the French Concession. Filled with bold print leggings, and military jackets decorated with fringes and gold chains, Where What Who’s clothing has an artsy, rebellious flair.

“We try to design clothes you can play with, which you can wear however you want,” Tang says, pointing to one of her favourite pieces – a silk scarf that’s been converted into a soft, rectangular dress. “Our inspiration is from rock ‘n' roll music and back to the ‘70s and ‘80s, and a kind of hippie style.”

While trying to get Where What Who off the ground, Zhang and his band Banana Monkey have been on hiatus. As Where What Who’s main designer, Zhang, who graduated from Donghua University’s fashion program back in 1994, has been a whirlwind of activity, speedily designing 92 pieces for the boutique’s opening last year, and putting together their 2010 fall/winter Freak Planet collection in less than a month.

“With my music and playing with my band, I just wanted to play until whenever and do whatever makes me happy,” Zhang says. “Fashion design is the same. At the core, I’m just being myself and I don’t have to think about a lot. As long as you have the courage and the passion, that’s all you need.”

Where What Who has solely focused on women’s clothing so far, but there are plans to expand the brand into menswear soon. At Shanghai Fashion Week, the designers showed 10 men’s pieces, including dynamic long blazers and classic red paisley suits.

As for the future, Zhang and Tang’s two year plan is to open boutiques in Hangzhou and Beijing, bringing their wares for fashion freaks beyond Shanghai.

“I think today’s trends aren’t very united, or going in the same direction,” Zhang says. “In 2010, fashion is about each designer’s mood or feeling, and trying new different things and making it fashionable.”

Where What Who, No. 1, Lane 372 Xingguo Lu, Tel: 5230 6736. Web: www.wherewhatwho.net