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.

From Back left : Nixon Chung, George Budiman, Peggy Yan From Front left: Ye Hong, Kang Jia Qi, Elva Tsai Executive Committee Members of OIMAC

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hina’s rapid development in recent years has led to strong economic growth, rising living standards, an emerging middle class and a growing cultural awareness. Contemporary Chinese art can be viewed in galleries in Switzerland and 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 theatre and architecture.

The homogenization of culture and the rise of the manufacturing industry,

however, has 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, has enabled the CHSDF to support Chinese culture more ef fectively. 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 or individual artists seeking to partner with Chinese artists can

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look forward to CHSDF’s suite of support services in marketing and media outreach as well.

International Links The Fund has gone beyond Chinese geographical boundaries to connect with international experts to strengthen their mission further - and to forge new ties between Chinese and international talents with the mission that collaborative workshops between Chinese handicraft masters and international designers can be realized in the ethnic regions of China. One such platform is the Oriental International Modern Art Council (OIMAC) whose members are leaders from 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 T V 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 and west collaboration on cultural sustainability,” said Brodbeck to FORBES ASIA from his home in Paris.

East Meets West It wasn’t just because of Brodbeck’s many years of experience in the luxury, jewelry and retail markets that he joined the Council though. It was his love for Chinese art, books and film from his extensive travel through Chinese provinces.

China, he explained, was producing culture even before the Greeks or Romans. The country has a “very rich heritage”, he added.

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 ver y much the focus of many of the big names in jewelry,” said Brodbeck.

Many brands have been using Chinese inf luences in their collections. “Cartier launched their ‘Kiss The Dragon’ (Le Baiser Du Dragon) collection, which was very popular among the younger generation. Every year, watch companies produce special limited edition collections with the animals of the zodiac for the New Year,” said Brodbeck.

Didier 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 observed.

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 companies are also using the fashion medium to create new bridges to link up the west with the east.

French label Hermes, 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. The factors for such this creative and successful collaboration involved working 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,” said Brodbeck.

The synergies continue. The Council member also noted that Shenzhen-based company TTF has recently hired a French designer to create a lotus flower collection.

Brodbeck added 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, who described the rise of Chinese design. The company publishes magazines on fashion and luxury in China such as the flagship Elle magazine.

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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 said. “All of the content was brought in from overseas editions; at that point we were bringing international fashion to China,” said 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 the content from China, noted Yang.

think we are a copy market so it is important that we increase international exchanges,” said Yang.

A solution offered 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,” said 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, but knowing how to communicate is also essential.”

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,” said Yang.

Global brands have been using Chinese symbols and creating specialist collections to reach out to the Chinese market. It was only in recent years, however, that this stylistic trend had lost its appeal as western concepts of what is Chinese no longer resonated with an increasingly sophisticated Oriental audience who wanted “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 a Chinese DNA – something that is subtle rather than overtly obvious,” said 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,” explained Yang, “it was a great discovery because they saw 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

Yang Wen

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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 said.

According to Ngao, many of the elements used in modern design – from fashion to furniture and jewelry design - are of a Chinese heritage, some dating back as far as 3,000 years, but few people realize it.

The programs will be about designers and decoding their thought processes in how they came up with the concept of their collection. Each hour-long show of 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 said, referring to the body hugging one-piece outfit also known as the cheongsam.

The show will be informative and entertaining with handicraft masters explaining why they are still creating their art, dozens of generations on . Combining the old and the new, the film makers will explore and comment on western designers’ outlook 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,” said 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

Edwina Ngao

Documenting Chinese Influence With CHSDF’s support through media, promotion and partnerships, it is hoped that more Chinese brands can get the recognition they hope for and deserve. To fulfill such aims, OIMAC has brought in other leading media experts in addition to CEOs of global brands, fashion critics and design masters.

Edwina Ngao is the general manager of China and South East Asia for the 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 experience in production, advertising, distribution and content to the Council.

A+E Networks will be partnering CHSDF in producing a seven-part documentary series on 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,” said Ngao.

“Working with the Oriental International Modern Art Council, we are going to launch