2013 – A Fashion Industry Roundup

2013 – A Fashion Industry Roundup

Natasha Ovely

As we near the end of 2013, Talk sat down with four women, deeply embedded in the fashion industry, to discuss the intricacies of the market. From an insight into the fashion education system to the evolving consumer culture and bludgeoning of fashion boundaries, they give us something to ponder over while we see in the New Year.

Amy Zhao

Luxury Market Insider

“I’m so sorry I’m late – retail is always a bit crazy”, she says as she sits down while smoothing back her ponytail. Amy Zhao is a petite young Chinese American woman. Her eyes are painted

with a quick upward flick of eyeliner that is expert and nonchalant, like the understated yet sophisticated uniform she wears.

Zhao’s first experience working in retail was as a high school student in Oregon, when she worked as a part time sales associate for Nike headquarters. “It was so dynamic. Everyday was different;

working with new people and products. I really enjoyed that.” This taste for the industry stayed with her as she embarked on an education and work experience in finance. Having moved to Shanghai about two years ago, she now works for a major, luxury fashion brand. Zhao believes that Shanghai is poised to be the leader of fashion consumer culture in China due to two major factors; firstly, its status as a major international hub which exposes it to foreign trends from Korea, Japan and the West; secondly, its geographical position allows easy access to raw materials in neighbouring provinces. She notes a change in the consumption habits of Chinese people and discusses how this will affect the luxury market in the future. “China has always been known as a savings-based economy, as opposed to a consumption based economy like America, however, China is beginning to rely more on its local consumers instead of solely on

expats. People are learning to enjoy their wealth by spending it in areas such as travel or luxury goods, instead of holing up a million RMB in the bank like before. The country is becoming more consumer conscious and is set to become the largest luxury market in the world before 2015.

Naturally, during this time, Shanghai really is the place I want to be.”

Chris Chang

Fashion Designer And Founder Of Poesia

She stands in the centre of the playground that is her flagship store, Poesia, in Pudong, wearing sweats, with her hair in a playful style, exuding the ease of art school cool. A Parsons School Of Design alumnus, Chris Chang’s fixation with colour is exemplified by the blue eyeliner drawn on her warm face. Following an eight year tenure with Prada in Taiwan, she moved to Shanghai to produce her first children’s clothing line for Barneys NYC, and accredits her success to “a certain naivety” and fearlessness, not knowing how hard it would be to set up during a gruelling six month timespan. “Commercial viability is on the same level as creativity”, she states, as she explains her decision to venture into women’s wear after the global economic crisis. “I didn’t have to make any adjustments to suit the Shanghainese market because I am not in the mass-market. I am very niche. This niche market thengot bigger since the overall trend started to embrace colour and print, following the collections of British designers, such as Mary Katranzou and Preen, in 2011. These are themes I always worked around since my days at Parsons.” Chang notes that she now see people in Shanghai wearing a lot more colours, which is a change from 2007 to 2009. “Before, there was this need to not attract attention. It is the Chinese mentality to be modest, even in the way you dress. People were afraid to incite negative comments or sentiments.” Chang acknowledges the influence of Western brands, such as H&M and Zara, who have entered the Chinese market and played a role in the evolution of consumer tastes, but indicates that after the overconsumption of these brands, there will be a need for interesting and unique designs as customers’ tastes mature.

Lili Wang

Fashion Blogger And Street Style Photographer

People are staring. She is standing outside a cafe in Xintiandi peering intently into her camera while her long hair flies in the

wind; her feet balancing on precariously tall platform boots. As Wang Lili looks up and sees us approaching, she looks nervous and instinctively snaps a picture, as if in selfdefence. A published novelist, she started attending fashion shows two years ago and turned into an instant media darling due to her outrageous style, mostly put together from her own designs or gifts from artists and fans. Having moved to Shanghai a year ago upon her editor’s suggestion, she started to indulge in street style photography. “I’m working on two projects right now. The first one is a series of close-up pictures of people’s shoes and the way they hold their legs in them. Look!” She points at the woman across from us whose feet sit upright as they balance on the tips of her toes. “The second one is about stray cats and dogs and rich pets. The strays are starving but free; the rich pets are well-off but on a leash. They are like people; rich and happy, but not free,” she says, as we look at a picture of a dog in an LV leash, staring at the camera while he urinates. “This year, because of exposure through Weibo and the fact that people in Shanghai want to immediately follow what is happening in New York and Paris, local fashion bloggers are the ones that we look up to and the biggest fashion influencers in China. We don’t have our own voice yet; we just want to follow other voices. Fashion bloggers could help this situation, but not all of them are responsible. They buy followers to collaborate with big brands, they sell themselves as celebrities yet still use other people’s photographs without crediting them like thieves.” she says as we discuss problems in the fashion blogging industry, from buying fake followers and comments, to the ego-feeding frenzy of the celebrity obsessed. “Big brands who collaborate with fan bloggers need numbers, and they don’t care if they are fake. This is how they make money from Weibo and other social networks. If you just want to have a lot of followers, you can’t give your own voice. It means nothing.”

Liz Thng

Senior Lecturer At Raffles Design School

The marketing manager at Raffles Design School introduces us to Liz Thng. She is the picture of elegance, impeccably groomed, wearing a simple black poncho reflecting her personal taste in design. Her slender, diamond embellished fingers rest on the table, politely poised for the interview. “What the Chinese are lacking is brand education. We just put a brand in front of them without showing them the process and so, they may not know how to appreciate it,” she explains, as she continues to enlighten us as to what values she tries to instil in new students. “We constantly ask them to explore what’s happening around them, and encourage them to go out and take their own photos instead of reusing something from the Internet. This is something that Chinese high schools do not do. It is their first real outlet.” Another key value that Thng imparts upon her fashion students and future fashion leaders, is the way in which the industry in Shanghai currently supports its members. “Out in the commercial world they have to be respectful and communicate with other designers. Local designers do not criticise each other; there is respect. You never hear them bitch about each other. The market is big and there is a niche for everyone.”