In Love with China

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“IN LOVE WITH CHINA”
COMMITTED TO CULTURAL GROWTH
China is seeking creative ways to promote its vibrant and diverse culture to international fashion brands with focused networking,
exchanges and media exposure.
C
OIMAC Executive Committee Members, clockwise from back left: Nixon Chung, George Budiman, Peggy Yan, Elva Tsai, Kang Jia Qi and Ye Hong
hina’s rapid development in recent years has
led to strong economic growth, rising living
standards, an emerging middle class and
growing cultural awareness. Contemporary
Chinese art can be viewed around the globe, from galleries in Switzerland to museums in New York.
China’s culture has perpetuated from one generation to the next for centuries. Its ethnic regions have
borne cultural diversity with crafts and skills that are
still used today in everything from product design and
clothing to stage theater and architecture.
The homogenization of culture and the rise of the
manufacturing industry, however, have put some of
these traditional skills at risk. But as China’s cultural
impact grows, the interest in its culture has never
been stronger.
As a result, in 2013, the Nationality Culture Foundation and Natural Heritage Institute (NHI) of the
Nanjing University set up the China Cultural and
Sustainable Development Special Fund (CHSDF) to
protect and promote China’s traditional art forms
and cultural diversity.
The NHI has researched and documented China’s
heritage and diversity through sociology, archaeology, history, law, architecture, urban planning and
the arts.
The expertise and research ability of the NHI,
combined with the political and governmental
support of the Nationality Culture Foundation, have
enabled the CHSDF to suppor t Chinese culture
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more effectively. Collaboration with foreign brands
is one way to incorporate Chinese designs, motifs
and styles into international fashion and art forms.
The Fund combines its wide commercial, governmental and media contact base to source talent and
support it with international cooperation and media
exposure. International brands and individual artists
seeking to partner with Chinese artists can look forward to CHSDF’s suite of support services in marketing and media outreach as well.
International Links
The Fund extends far beyond China’s geographical
boundaries, forging ties with both domestic and
international talents, in an effort to encourage collaborations with Chinese masters and to promote
their handicrafts around the world. One such platform is the Oriental International Modern Art Council (OIMAC), whose members are leaders in the commerce, media and fashion industries.
OIMAC member Didier Brodbeck is a journalist,
author, speaker and commentator on luxury brands.
Brodbeck, who has consulted for international jewelry brands, will be hosting a series of TV shows for
broadcast in China later this year.
“As an advisory member of the Oriental International Modern Art Council under CHSDF, my role is
to share my global branding experience with Chinese brands and designers and promote East-West
collaboration on cultural sustainability,” says Brodbeck from his home in Paris.
East Meets West
Brodbeck joined OIMAC after many years in the luxury jewelry and retail markets, driven by his love for
Chinese art, books and film, which developed during
his extensive travels throughout China.
China, he explained, was producing culture even
before the Greeks or Romans. The country has a “very
rich heritage,” he adds.
Over the course of history, Western fashion designers took an interest in a variety of foreign cultures
of the East. “The jewelry business has been inspired
by the Egyptians and also the Japanese for a limited
period of time. Currently, China is very much the focus
of many of the big names in jewelry,” says Brodbeck.
Many brands use Chinese influences in their collections. For example, “Cartier launched their Le Baiser du
Dragon (Kiss of the Dragon) collection, which was very
popular among the younger generation. And every
year, watch companies produce special limited-edition
collections with the animals of the zodiac for the New
Year,” says Brodbeck.
According to him, there are more and more Chinese elements that are visible in the fashion scene
today, even on the catwalk. Chinese traditional materials such as jade, lacquer, silk and motifs, including
bamboo and the lotus flower, are prevalent in these,
he observes.
Many international brands recognize that Chinese
motifs might appeal to the growing and lucrative
Chinese consumer market. However, it is not just the
international brands that use Chinese designs; some
Didier Brodbeck
companies are also using the fashion medium to create new bridges between East and West.
French label Hermès, for instance, has joined forces
with Chinese creative director Jiang Qiong Er to
launch Shang Xia—a Chinese brand that now retails
in Beijing, Shanghai and Paris. To bring about this creative and successful collaboration, Hermès worked
closely with Chinese designers, using Chinese materials and engaging the skills of Chinese traditional
craftsmen. The brand is currently taking off.
According to Brodbeck, partnerships between the
jewelry industries in France and China are growing,
too. “Qeelin is a jewelry brand jointly launched by
a Chinese and French designer, which is becoming
popular particularly among Chinese films stars such
as Maggie Cheung,” says Brodbeck.
Likewise, the Shenzhen-based company TTF has
recently hired a French designer to create a lotus
flower collection.
Brodbeck adds that in Europe, there is great
interest in Chinese designers as a result of distinctive
styles produced by fashion artists Cindy Chao and
Zhu Chongyun.
Another member of the OIMAC is Yang Wen, the
managing director of Hearst China. The company
publishes magazines on fashion and luxury in China
such as the flagship Elle magazine.
Elle China was launched in 1988, when the Chinese
fashion market was still considered immature. “At that
point, there were no Chinese models, designers or
photographers,” she says. “All of the content was
brought in from overseas editions; we were bringing
international fashion to China,” recalls Yang.
This started to change in 2002, when film stars
Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li were the first Chinese celebrities to grace the cover of the magazine. By 2008,
the focus shifted to Chinese talent. Today, nearly all
of the content is produced locally. Increasingly, titles
from the Asian region are taking much of their content from China, notes Yang.
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Chinese With a Difference
Chinese models such as Liu Wen and Shu Pei now
grace billboards and catwalks around the world
as brands try to resonate with a Chinese audience.
However, this is not reflective of the market penetration of Chinese fashion products, according
to Yang. “Compared to the importance of the
market and the size of the population, our representation in world fashion markets is still very
low,” says Yang.
Global brands have been using Chinese symbols and creating specialist collections to reach
out to the Chinese market. It is only in recent
years, however, that this stylistic trend has lost its
appeal, as Western concepts of what is Chinese
no longer resonate with an increasingly sophisticated Asian audience that wants “something
fresh.” According to Yang, Chinese consumers are
looking for a different kind of look. “They want
something that is global, but also something that
still has Chinese DNA—something that is subtle
rather than overtly obvious,” says Yang.
Western designers have also gradually increased
their understanding of China and are creating work
according to what they see and know. “For most
of them visiting China,” explains Yang, “it has been
a great discovery, because they see that modern
China is a great mix of the past with a living tradition that still influences the younger generation. It
helps them understand that there is an interesting
cultural movement happening in China.”
However, Western media have traditionally
focused on the larger European and American
brands, causing Chinese designers and brands to
struggle to gain limelight.
“International media still have little understanding of what Chinese can create. They still think
we are a copy market, so it is important that we
increase international exchanges,” says Yang.
One solution is to boost exposure. “It is also
important that Chinese designers not only continue to increase the quality of their work, but also
embrace the media and work with global public
relations companies. It is still a challenge for Chinese designers to break into the international
media circles,” says Yang.
Yang cites Chinese photographer Chen Man as
a good example of an artist who has overcome
such an obstacle. “She is not just a great artist; she
also knows how to communicate with the Western world. Having creativity is not enough for one
to penetrate Western markets; knowing how to
communicate is also essential.”
Documenting Chinese Influence
Supported by media, promotions and partnerships, CHSDF hopes that more Chinese brands can
get the recognition they hope for and deserve. To
fulfill such aims, the OIMAC has brought in other
leading media experts in addition to CEOs of
global brands, fashion critics and design masters.
Yang Wen
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Edwina Ngao is the general manager of China
and Southeast Asia for A+E Networks, an American
TV network that produces documentaries, reality
TV and drama series. She is also bringing her 18
years of experience in international TV production,
advertising, distribution and content to the Council.
A+E Networks will be partnering with CHSDF
to produce a seven-part documentary series on
Edwina Ngao
Chinese heritage and culture. “Every year there are
so many global brands that launch new designs
using Chinese elements, but not everyone knows
the history or heritage of these items,” says Ngao.
“Working with the OIMAC, we are going to
launch a program on international designers
called In Love With China to talk with global
designers and see how they embrace Chinese
elements in their designs,” she says.
According to Ngao, many of the elements used
in modern design—from fashion to furniture and
jewelry design—are of Chinese heritage, some
dating back as far as 3,000 years, but few people
realize it.
The program will delve into how designers
come up with concepts for their collections. Each
hour-long episode in the educational series will
focus on a different province in China.
“Suzhou is famous for its silk, and Shanghai is
famous for the qipao—but we want to decode how
Westerners became so fascinated with this Chinese
dress,” she says, referring to the body-hugging onepiece outfit also known as the cheongsam.
The show will also feature handicraft masters,
who will explain why they are so passionate about
their art—even after several generations. Combining the old and the new, the filmmakers will explore
and comment on Western designers’ outlooks on
how they incorporate ancient Chinese elements
into their modern designs to create a whole new
genre of fashionable products.
“This is the beginning of a new era,” says Ngao,
adding that “there will be even more Chinese elements used in our lives.”
Through televised fashion programs and collaborative exchanges, international fashion
designers will be able to better appreciate Chinese culture, leading to innovative new ideas
and distinctive fashion lines showcasing Chinese
design elements and motifs. n