Amid the vibrant spring landscape, Shanghai Fashion Week 2024 opened with a grand gathering of stars, including renowned Japanese designer Naoki Takizawa, and a runway show by Le Fame, the Chinese brand known for its modern Shanghai style.
This season, the theme of Shanghai Fashion Week was “Chainborne”, aiming to foster deep integration between various stakeholders through a busy schedule of fashion shows, trade shows and showrooms.
In today's digital era, Shanghai Fashion Week once again partnered with Douyin (TikTok China), launching digital fashion shows and showcasing unique Chinese designers to a wide audience, reaching up to 117 million views.
To kick off the fashion marathon, Le Fame, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year, showcased its Fall/Winter 2024 ready-to-wear collection at Hall Red, Taiping Lake in Shanghai Xintiandi.
The collection called “Shanghai Modern Trilogy” was presented in three chapters: “Shanghai Glamor”; “Shanghai Moonlight”; and “New Shanghai Classic.” In collaboration with independent designer Zhong Zixin, the brand reinvented the city's iconic style and history, drawing inspiration from the 1920s and the modern Shanghainese woman.
“For brands like Le Fame, which have both designer style and commercial potential, being the inaugural show is a big step forward for us. It's time for Shanghai to launch a brand with a strong Shanghai aesthetic,” said WANG Manxiu, co-founder. of Le Fame, which achieved an impressive annual turnover of almost 250 million yuan in 2019 and is seeking to expand its controls.
fashion fair
Also among the lively events of Shanghai Fashion Week was the Fashion Fall/Winter 2024 trade fair, which welcomed many domestic and international newcomers. Mode attracted 11 showrooms, nearly 300 brands and companies, of which almost half were foreign exhibitors. An increase of 10% over the same period last year, many of whom have supply chain experience.
Raxxy, a luxury down jacket brand, showcased its 3D reconstruction technology, along with several patents for new craft techniques. The brand's founder, William Shen, draws inspiration from the traditional Chinese craftsmanship of bamboo weaving. “We are innovating in fashion, introducing completely new fashion technologies,” he said.
With the help of Shanghai Fashion Week, the brand has seen rapid development in the past three years. Shen mentioned that the brand has partnered with a European brand management company that allows it to enter the European market, distributing to boutiques.
It was also present at Mode Dongli, a brand that originated in the cashmere supply chain. In collaboration with fashion brand Siqiyoung, founded by blogger Maggie Yang Siqi, and Douyin, she jointly launched her latest products at the main venue of Shanghai Fashion Week.
For Dongli, as a cashmere sweater manufacturer, participating in Shanghai Fashion Week is to leverage its influence, collect market feedback, understand market demands and trends, expand domestic and international markets, improve brand position in the fashion industry, deepen exchanges and collaborate with other well-known brands and designers, and collectively promote the development of the industry.
Space M
M Space, held every season, focuses on “sustainable fashion development” and “fashion
business innovation issues”, exploring the current state, opportunities and challenges of the industry, and generating future trends, concepts and models. The event focuses on topics such as artificial intelligence, sustainable development, e-commerce channels and supply chain updates.
“China is a market that we are very optimistic about, especially in the last five years.
We deeply feel the speed of development of sustainable fashion concepts in the Chinese market and are amazed by the potential of the Chinese market. In the next stage, we will make the most of artificial intelligence to actively reach our consumers with a more visual marketing approach, allowing them to see and recognize the sustainability of our brand,” said Thierry Andretta, global CEO of Mulberry, in a conversation with Cui Dan, veteran media personality and founder of sustainable fashion platform Can U, during a panel at the inaugural M Space forum.
Wang Junhong, CEO and vice president of Lilanz Group, who also participated in the discussion, added: “Should the concept of sustainable development also be interpreted from a business perspective? Brands must survive and thrive to have greater capabilities and broader influence.” “. , thus making more contributions to the sustainable development of humanity, society, business ecology and the planet.”
show on time
Considered one of the key events of Shanghai Fashion Week, FashionNetwork.com spoke with Gu Yeli, founder of Ontimeshow, over coffee. Created in 2014, it is currently China's largest invitation-only fashion trade fair, targeting global fashion designer brands and specifically the Chinese market.
Ontimeshow now covers an area of more than 25,000 square meters in the West Bund area and is gradually expanding along the Suzhou River. The number of participating brands has gone from the initial 48 to more than 4,000 accumulated over ten years, with a total audience of more than two hundred thousand people, including buyers, exhibitors and the press.
The first edition of Ontimeshow arose after a phone call from Lv Xiaolei, general secretary of the Shanghai Fashion Week Organizing Committee, to Yeli. Initially, Yeli was thinking about opening a multi-brand men's fashion store, conducting research in London and Shanghai, but she jumped at the opportunity in 2014.
The first venue had excellent ceiling height, light, open spaces, was in an ideal location and with the foundation laid by the ten years of development of Shanghai Fashion Week, the name “Ontimeshow” was decided, which means “the right time, harmonious people, and favorable circumstances.” “Friends said that the meaning of the name was to hope that fashion shows could start on time and that fashion lovers would not be late,” Yeli joked.
Shanghai Fashion Week and surrounding events have come a long way, but “new changes and uncertainties in today's retail market make it difficult for everyone in the fashion industry to stand alone. It is vigilance and assistance of old and new partners that have led to today,” said the founder of the fair.
This successful fashion event not only provides a stage for designers to present, but also offers business opportunities. This has also prompted more refined platforms and service providers to join in, such as Tube, Not Showroom and Roomroom by Ontimeshow. Platforms that support Chinese designers like Labelhood are also in the mix. Both Chinese designer brands and Shanghai Fashion Week are experiencing explosive growth.
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