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Spring ’15

Issue n°1

二 〇 一 五 春 季

CN ¥119.90

UK £12.00

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issue n°1

MÒ NÌ | Spring 2015

Manifesto

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

//EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan

主编 詹琳子 梁洋子

//ART DIRECTOR Sanzose Chua

艺术指导 蔡宗驿

//PHOTOGRAPHERS Ray Chang Asoso Liu Naian Feng Leon Wei

摄影 张睿 刘Asoso 冯乃桉 傅张威

//ILLUSTRATOR Zhiwen Tang

插画 唐志文

//MAKE-UP ARTIST Yumi Koh Agnes Hsieh Keira Yi

化妆 Yumi Koh 谢舒涵 易渡

Shanghai Fashion Week shanghaifashionweek.com / dfic.com.cn / Streetstories www.street-stories.com @_streetstories_ info@street-stories.com weibo.com/streetstories / Lion Studio www.lionstudio.co.uk info@lionstudio.co.uk / Renli Su www.renlisu.com info@renlisu.com / Ray Chang www.rayxchang.com / Naian Feng www.fengnaian.com / Sanzose Chua sanzose90@gmail.com +44 (0)77 8435 0774

//SPECIAL THANKS_特别鸣谢 _DongFangIC_Shanghai Fashion Week _Lion Studio._M.RenIshii_Yuxi Sun_Renli Su _DONGLIANG_WSHIEN_Wenxia Du_Ian Lam _Yang Du_Claire Zou_Hefang Sun_Sihan Lei _Angel Chen_Cassie Liu_Jennifer Qian

First printed in 2014 by Panopus Printing PRS Ltd. 13 Swan Yard London N1 1SD www.panopus.com Hand-binded in 2014 at London College of Communication Elephant & Castle London SE1 6SB

_& you.

Copyright © 2014 by 莫逆MÒ NÌ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United Kingdom.

Editor’s letter: two

Information: three

Manifesto

Manifesto

Letter from the Editors

Spring 2015

News / 新事 Shanghai Fashion Week SS15 : 2015 春夏上海时装周 -9-

Affair / 吾国 The era of selfie : 大自拍时代 - 35 -

Four beauties : 四美 - 39 -

A reflection on ‘Daigou’ : 代购不完全手册 - 49 -

Behind ‘Occupy Central’ : “占中”的胜利？ - 52 -

Chinese actress in Hollywood films : “她”在好莱坞

Manifesto

- 60 -

Fashion Mentor WSHIEN Jennifer Qian Angel Chen Cassie Liu Lion studio

/ : x x x x x

风华 导师 DONGLIANG Claire Zou Yang Du Ian Lum Hefang Sun

- 69 -

Cover girls of the Young Companian : 良友画报的封面女郎 - 86 -

Young companian : 莫逆 - 92 -

Heritage / 传承 Nv shu : 女书 - 102 -

Lesbianism : 女同 - 106 -

Classic of poetry : 诗经 - 118 -

Slow life in Chengdu : 成都·慢活 - 126 -

Generation / 三代 Grandma Tan’s recipe : 谭奶奶的水煮鱼 - 132 -

Flowers in the mirror : 镜花 - 136 -

Content: four

News.

Spring 2015

立 春

— Shanghai Fashion Week S/S15 宜 忌 嫁 娶

求 嗣

恩 赦

祭 祀

动 土

栽 种

入 宅

修 造

置 产

求 医

斋 醮

纳 畜

行 丧

移 徙

入 学

行 破 舟 土

修 坟

安 葬

出 行

With the prelude of Design by Shanghai in London Fashion Week, the 11th Shanghai Fashion Week is finally here. Gazed and inspired by the entire world, Shanghai Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015 has gathered numerous young Chinese designers and established clustered showrooms, announcing its metamorphosis towards a mature fashion week.

What wanders between dream and reality is not only the expectation Chinese have had for the fashion world in the past decades, but also the efforts that people have made while the whole Chinese fashion industry has been groping its way forward.

News: seven

Manifesto

二 月 四 日

Between Dreams and Reality

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang

Q A

Why do you name the event ‘Design by Shanghai’ instead of ‘Design by China’?

On one hand, ‘China’ is a word easily associated with the poor impression of the clothing manufacture industry in China. ‘Shanghai’, on the other hand, is a synonym of development and prosperity and it seems more appealing. At the moment, there are some collections with the tag ‘Design by Shanghai’ sold in the Europe, and it means quality and creativity to foreign customers.

Q A

What are your criteria when choosing designers to showcase?

Our original idea is to introduce young Chinese designers to international stages and to show the world their talents. Most of the twelve designers showcased this year are fledgling and emerging designers. Some of them have international education background and work experience. For example, menswear designer Xinyu Hu just graduated from London College of Fashion last year and Central Saint Martins MA graduate Yuhao Zhang was showcased in Design by Shanghai last year. Both of them have returned to Shanghai to pursuit their careers.

Q

As an organization showcasing and supporting young Chinese designers, how do you think of the influence they exert in other countries during fashion weeks?

There is a lot of attention on young Chinese designers right now all over the world, but London is more special since it is such a creative and diverse city. It is the city where emerging designers are most appreciated.

A

Design by Shanghai in London Fashion Week SS15

Q A As the organizer of Design by Shanghai and Shanghai Fashion Week, Shanghai International Fashion Centre has composed ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and introduced young Chinese designers to the world. It is not an alumni association, nor a vanity fair. It is only a Shanghai Dream in London. Mr Wenxia Du, Deputy Press Manager of the Shanghai International Fashion Centre, talks to Mònì about his views on Design by Shanghai.

News: eight

How does Design by Shanghai involve in London Fashion Week this year?

British Fashion Council, the organizer of London Fashion Week, has paid a lot of attention to Design by Shanghai every year. Staffs from British Fashion Council come to our event every year and Anna Orsini, Strategic Consultant at British Fashion Council, has paid us visit two years in a row. Surprisingly, Caroline Rush, CEO of British Fashion Council, came to our show earlier this morning. She expressed her wish to have a further talk with us, and she may come to Shanghai Fashion Week in October. Besides, Susie Bubble, world-renowned fashion blogger, editors from Vogue Italy and domestic and international media have also come to report the event.

News: nine

Manifesto

Manifesto

Word

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Cheng Ji’s Bamboo Mist Collection

Following her usual style, Cheng Ji launched the ‘Bamboo Mist’ collection after her ‘Peony Pavilion’ and ‘Red-crowned Crane’ collections.

This collection is inspired by the simplicity and elegance of gentlemen that bamboo stands for in Chinese culture, and invested with the

delicate beauty of women. Ji has combined genderless sports style with lace, embroidery, chiffon and georgette, which are all details normally appearing in Haute Couture collections. The design of obvious symmetry lines represents the Chinese traditional

News: ten

decency and the uprightness of bamboo.

‘A meal without meat makes people thin, a house without bamboo makes people vulgar’, said Ancient Chinese poet Dongpo Su.

In this ‘Bamboo Mist’ collection, black and white are used as the primary tone, and emerald green and dark blue as the secondary. The colour is matched with a genderless slim and long silhouette, presenting the images of a polite and elegant gentleman. The features of bamboo can be seen from the shapes of clothing in this collection, as well as their natural materials and sutures. The see-through georgette and chiffon fabrics are creating the visual effect of mist, and adding a feminine touch to the bamboo shape at the same time. In this season, Ji has also cooperated with KIPIN to design the ‘Bamboo Mist’ handmade bag collection.

News: eleven

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Xiaoxue Ban’s Same Collection

Xiaoxue Ban is not the only one using organic fabrics with natural colours, but for sure he has given these fabrics a new meaning – to call for the society to care about people with disadvantaged personalities. Ban has combined many aesthetically contradictory elements

together to represent people with different personalities. Some of them are autism, and some are melancholy. He blurs the boundaries between right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, to show people that everything is just human nature in a world of isolated souls.

News: twelve

The black, white and red colours he always uses have revealed his philosophy of simplicity, purity, freedom and environmental awareness. Boys are dressed as girls, girls are dressed as boys, and all the adults are wearing fancy long caps only can be seen in fairy tales. Knitting with chiffon, printed on plain cloth -- the styles are different, yet the sense of fashion is the same. It is said that all the patterns on the clothing are designed relaxingly, with the designer’s eyes closed. ‘Love makes them the same as us’. The runway with all models wearing white blouses at the curtain call has reinforced Ban’s style of oriental purity and originality.

News: thirteen

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Haotian Wen’s Return to Oneself Collection

Born in the 1990s, French-educated designer Haotian Wen has proved many times that his muse is his own mother, especially in the Chinese reality show ‘New Clothes of the Goddess’. His latest SS15 collection is not exception. Wen is still looking for the balance

between elegance and sexiness, modernity and tradition. His namesake brand has been established for three years and his design is regarded to have a natural romantic and lazy temperament.

News: fourteen

In this collection, it is easy to tell that this brand is seeking its way to present powerful urban women. No matter from the modified shirt-style coat, the tailored collar, or the use of leather that keeps appearing in this collection, Wen’s targeting at the urban women market is obvious.

The design of bare midriff, the cutout on both sides of the waist, and the small butterfly knot decoration all reflects the true character that urban women show unintentionally every now and then. These innocuous cuteness and sexiness reveals the ingenuity of the designer. The matching of black and white, navy blue and nude colours perfectly captures the feature of brightness that spring and summer seasons have. This style, which reflects a sense of lazy elegance of women, is also a remainder that Haotian Wen’s ‘Oedipus Complex’ will not end in a short term.

News: fifteen

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Dengting Li’s Wander Line

Dengting Li is one of those people who never stop exploring Chinese traditional culture.

‘The main reason I design these clothes is that I want to make something for me to wear’, said Li. This ideology is in accord with the natural economy in ancient China. This is exactly

what makes Li’s design a perfect combination of both the denotation and connotation of traditional Chinese costumes.

News: sixteen

After the launch of his own brand ‘Crane’, Li has chosen to enter the global arena, and thus created the independent line ‘Wander’. In this line, he uses traditional Chinese culture as the dominant tone, adding his own observations when travelling around the world and traditional craft techniques from all over the world. All of these has given ‘Wander’ its uniqueness. In this season, he visited the southern border of China and the Himalayas, and thus integrated religious elements from Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism in designing this ‘Wander’ line. The royal blue and maroon coloured cassocks made of silk and cotton has overturned traditional Chinese aesthetics again.

News: seventeen

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Jin Chong Yu’s Bad Collection

Influenced by his favourite designer Alexander McQueen, Jin likes to break the rules when designing clothing. In the latest ‘Bad’ collection of his brand JINNNN by Jin Chong Yu, the traditional elements of Hmong people in Guizhou Province, such as embroidery, striped lace, and silver ornament, are presented in an asymmetric and creative way to present the sports style of bad girls on the street. There is indefinite ingenuity in these seemingly simple and random street styles. Jin has invited seven Hmong embroidery craftsmen to embroider on modern fabrics, creating a sense of Hmong girls’ rebellion. This is like the Hmong witchcraft in those Kong Fu novels, making people obsessive about his designs.

The ‘rebellious teenager’, Jin Chong Yu’s debut in the Shanghai Fashion Week SS15. The traditional French aesthetics did not reverse his rebellion. After graduating from Ecole De La Chambre Syndicale De La Couture Parisienne, Jin soon started his own studio.

News: eighteen

News: nineteen

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Manifesto

One Day with DONGLIANG

It has already been a routine for the multi-brand shop DONGLIANG to showcase designers they have been work over the year on the last day of Shanghai Fashion Week. In the event of ‘One Day with DONGLIANG’, we have met with four most representative designers of DONGLIANG this year, and they are just like four mysterious weapons illustrated in the Kong Fu novels.

News: twenty

News: Twenty-one

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

The Virgin Sword | Renli Su

Manifesto

Just like the Virgin Sword used by the Dragon Maid in the ancient tomb in Chinese Kong Fu novel The Return Of The Condor Heroes, the style of Renli Su is pure and raw.

Coming back from London, Renli Su’s SS15 collection is inspired by the famous literature Little Women.

The strong, independent yet well mannered and lovely girls living during the American Civil War period illustrated by Louisa May Alcott have triggered the designer’s imagination. Grass linen with its original colour is made into loose and comfortable clothing and the whole collection has integrated details of daily clothes of women in 19th century and a sense of mobility.

More importantly, based on Su’s own designing principles, these fabrics are easy to wash and store. Their colours may even have some fantastic changes as time goes by.

News: twenty-two

News: twenty-three

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

The Needle Box | Angel Chen

Manifesto

The needle box that can shoot out numerous poisonous needles is always a mysterious hidden weapon appearing in Kong Fu novels. Once released, no one can survive it. It is just like the magic of Angel Chen’s design.

Following the ‘Les Noces’ collection, her graduation project in Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Angel Chen’s ‘Rite of Spring’ collection in Shanghai has less dramatization and exaggeration.

Instead, the playful design presents a sense of childish fun, announcing the arrival of spring. In her debut in Shanghai, Angel Chen is like a secret weapon, fearless and unstoppable.

The pleasant colours, dramatic make-ups, innovative styles, unique fabrics and the showing up of supermodel Sayoakasaka all indicate that the vivacity Angel Chen has brought to the Shanghai Fashion Week is impossible to neglect.

News: twenty-four

News: twenty-five

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

The Sharp Blades | Haizhen Wang

Manifesto

If Angel Chen and Renli Su are still rookies on the runway, then Haizhen Wang is a veteran since his studio has been established in London for years. Just like the sharp blades that specially made for Chinese royal guards in the Ming Dynasty, his design is disciplined, tolerant, mature and sophisticated.

Haizhen Wang’s SS15 collection is inspired by adhesive tapes and seal tapes, which are interestingly presented on the models. The design of endless layers and bias cutting present the highlights of this collection – the visual effects of two-dimension and three-dimension are combined freely. Although the clothing used in this show are the same with those appeared in the Paris and London Fashion Week, the new way of styling has created a sense of unexpectedness.

‘The venue in Shanghai is themed by destruction and reborn, thus I would pay more attention to such collisions’, said Haizhen Wang.

News: twenty-six

News: twenty-seven

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

The Fancy Rapier | Deepmoss

Manifesto

Fencing is not only a form of competitive fighting, but also a form of ancient art and etiquette, as shown in Deepmoss’s SS15 collection.

Showing the elegance of European art, the printings of illustrated ancient plants have clear and stereoscopic veins. Together with the indistinct signs written in Latin, they have bestowed this collection a gentle but vigorous vitality. Most clothes from this collection are long gowns and dresses made of cotton and linen. Models are holding dried flowers with simple but elegant colours, glowing with grace. The designer has handled every detail with subtlety, presenting the clothing in the most comfortable and natural look. The metaphors and silence featured in the medieval times are all hidden in the crescent sleeves.

Deepmoss cooperates with hat designer Kreuz this time to make those exaggerated and mysterious hats, which have turned this collection into a fairy tale.

News: twenty-eight

News: twenty-nine

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

The Spanish Flamingo -

Ermenegildo Zegna’s Short Film

Giambattista Valli’s Debut

With the releasing of A Rose Reborn, short film by Ermenegildo Zegna, Shanghai Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015 has successfully come to an end. There are four episodes of this short film directed by Korean director Park Chan-wook. The first three episodes were released on the official website of Ermenegildo Zegna. The world premier of the last one is held in the exhibition centre at the end of Shanghai Fashion Week.

With Daniel Wu among the cast, this film has been anxiously expected by many people.

Inspired by the vitality of flowers in the Alhambra Garden in Spain, Giambattista Valli uses colourful floral prints and Arabic pyjama stripes to present the Spanish Moorish style. Tussores, gazar and georgette cannot be used more in this show. The ivory coloured poplin dress that decorated with delicate wisterias is extremely beautiful. Finally, this collection is ended with the fantastic match of white, pyjama-shaped upper outer garment and a gown with dreamy fold.

News: thirty

News: thirty-one

Manifesto

Manifesto

The Italian Blossom -

Spring 2015

The Venetian Soul -

Manifesto

Diesel’s Themed Party

The ‘Venice Meets Shanghai’ party held by Diesel has brought such excitement. The first collection since Nicola Formichetti became the art director of Diesel has been presented with incredible dance music presented by the guest DJ.

News: thirty-two

Affair.

Spring 2015

雨 水 The Era of Selfie

Word Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan Illustration Olivia Muus

Affair: thirty-five

Manifesto

二 月 十 九 日

︻ 日 值 灭 没 大 事 勿 用 ︼

In 1839, Robert Cornelius, a photographer came from Philadelphia, took the first selfie ever in the history. Since then, people began to become obsessed with this way of taking pictures, holding their hands up high, facing the camera, and saying ‘cheese’.

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Manifesto

Perhaps taking photos at an attraction site or in a studio is not enough for people to pursue their self-images; selfie has become the most convenient and popular way to take photos. Contemporary young people’s need of attention is leading the whole society into an Era of Selfie. Compared to texts, photographs are always more straightforward and eye-catching. Instagram has thus come into being, with beauty, food and scenery as the most popular topics. Early in the 2014, The Time magazine has even made a ranking list of popular selfies on instagram – this is evident enough that the trend of selfie is influential on a global range.

Taking China as an example, almost all the Chinese girls have had posted selfies on their social networks. The wide-eyed looks with irrelevant captions seem to be a must-have. On Weibo, the localized version of Twitter in China, users can follow other people’s accounts. The most popular types are accounts of celebrities, public intellectuals, and so called ‘web celebrities’, who became famous for the selfies they posted online. Those web celebrities can also be divided in to two kinds – one is girls with standard post-plastic surgery face, that is, pointed chin, big eyes and Roman nose; and the other is girls with excellent make-up skills and artistic temperament who have long hair, fair skin, flat eyebrows and red lips.

As a matter of fact, web celebrities of both types have to retouch their selfies before posting them.

Thus, post-processing is quite important. Not everyone is a photoshop professional, but to become a web celebrity, all you need is some apps on your smartphone. Some of these APPs can process pictures automatically to make the skin look more delicate and brighter on the picture when taking it, such as CAMERA360 and Meiyan Camera; some can create various tones and visual effects on the pictures, and even help modify facial features, such as Meitu Pic and VSCO cam; and some specialize in cropping pictures, adjusting sizes and creating artistic selfies, such as Instagram and InstaCollege. All these APPs have their own specialties that subtly differentiate themselves from each other. Those girls who are good at taking selfies can easily tell you their differences, as if they designed them.

Affair: thirty-six

Affair: thirty-seven

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Photographer Ray Chang Makeup Artist Agnes Hsieh Models Qi Tong Zeng Lynn Lin Editor Linzi Zhan Word Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang

In 2011, CASIO launched the TR series, which are a series of digital cameras specially designed for women who love taking selfies. These cameras have the functions of beautify the look, brighten skin tones, and capture smiles, thus they are called ‘master camera for selfies’. The price of the first generation of the ‘master camera’ was just 2,000RMB. At best, it is just a comparatively smaller and more convenient camera. However, with the increasing popularity of social networks like Weibo and WeChat, the ‘master camera’ has become a must-have for girls. This has led to the ridiculous rise of its price from 2,000RMB to 7,000RMB. Though the new generation has many enhanced functions, it is quite surprising that a camera that can only be used to take selfies can be even more expensive than the latest iPhone 6.

In short, selfie is like a self-directed movie, in which women are playing a photoshoped version of themselves most of the time. Being lost in the numerous ‘liked’ tags and comments of their selfies, they have totally forgotten that the fundamental meaning of taking photos is just to record the happy moments. There is an old Chinese saying that ‘gentlemen die for those who appreciate them and ladies try to look good for those who love them’. This doctrine has subconsciously made people believe that they should always pay great attention to how other people see them.

Such tradition should be long gone now.

Women are not always dolling up for those who they love or love them. They should be dolling up for themselves, and for their own happiness.

Affair: thirty-eight

Four Beauties ‘The beauty of Xi Shi can sink the fish; The beauty of Wang Zhaojun can settle the geese; The beauty of Diao Chan can hide the moon; The beauty of Yang Guifei can ashame the flower’.

It is an old Chinese saying about the Four Beauties. Looking back into history, it seems that beauties only exist to please men. From the ‘Xiao Xia Look’ (with blush on women’s sideburns) in South Tang Era to the ‘Luo Mei Look’ (with a plum-blossom-shaped gold foil attached between women’s eyebrows) in Tang Dynasty, women spared no effort to impress emperors with beautiful looks.

In the modern society, Chinese women seem to enjoy equal social status with men, but actually they are just walking the same path as women in the old days. The arriving of the Era of Selfie makes women crazy for a perfect face – flat eyebrows, pointed chin, fair skin and long eyelashes. There seems to be no end to the story of pursuing beauty, with every Chinese woman playing a part of it.

Why the notion of beauty means so much to Chinese women? Here Mònì presents to you the new ‘Four Beauties’ in China in the hope to shed light on fresh perspectives of female beauty.

Affair: thirty-nine

Manifesto

Manifesto

Apparently, when using those ‘master cameras’, how people actually look does not matter any more. Girls are taking selfies just for showcase today. But is the real point behind such action being beautiful? If they want to look pretty all the time, why not choose plastic surgery, which is more convenient and once for good? There was a friend responding to this question like this, ‘being good at taking selfies is even better than having plastic surgeries. The surgeries cost too much money, and there are potential risks, while photoshop can make you become prettier in minutes. Plus, you can do whatever you want with the pictures. I don’t really need to become prettier. As long as I look good on the pictures that my friends have access to, it is enough.’ Indeed, the satisfaction that recognition and praise bring them is far more important to them than their perceptions of their true appearance.

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Affair: forty-one

Manifesto

Spring 2015

Affair: forty-four

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Affair: forty-seven

Spring 2015

A Reflection on ‘Daigou’

Manifesto Word Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan

While the growth of international market for luxury goods slows under the influence of the depressed economy, Chinese become the largest consumers of luxury goods. Even though the recent anti-corruption drive from the Chinese government has heavily impacted the market, Chinese customers are still responsible for 47% of the total luxury goods purchases all over the world.

According to the latest statistics from Fortune Character, a research facility for China’s luxury goods market, in 2013, Chinese has spend approximately 102 billion dollars on luxury goods, and roughly 73% are spent overseas. There is no doubt that the increasing number of Chinese tourists abroad has contributed a lot to this high percentage. However, Daigou, a novel e-commence model, may also explain Chinese people’s powerful spending power overseas.

Affair: forty-nine

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Is It Booming?

Is It Smuggling?

Is It Hotbed For Knock-offs?

Daigou, literally meaning ‘purchase on behalf of ’, is a channel of commerce in which a person overseas purchases luxury goods for a customer in mainland China. First emerged as a way for consumers to buy luxury goods that are unattainable in mainland China, Daigou has become a booming business that was worth 12 billion dollars in 2013, according to the China E-commerce Research Centre.

With larger amounts of money changing hands each year, the Daigou business has caught the attention of China’s customs authorities. The Daigou business is only legal if items are properly declared and import duties are paid. There are thought to be over 20,000 Daigou agents operating between Hong Kong and mainland China alone, and about 1,000 were caught last year for smuggling. The General Administration of Customs has recently stipulated that all individuals engaged in ‘cross-border e-commerce’ must provide a list of imported and exported items to customs.

Many customers turn to overseas Daigou agents not only for the tempting price, but also for the authenticity of products and credibility of boutiques in the Western countries. However, it may not be the truth.

High import tariffs on luxury goods in China are responsible for the rapid growth of the business during the past few years. Imported luxury items carry a 17% value added tax and some product categories, such as cosmetics, impose even higher tariffs, which causes that the price for luxury goods are generally 30% to 60% more expensive in mainland China than in global fashion capitals like New York, London and Paris. Therefore a large number of Chinese residents are turning to overseas Daigou agents to circumvent steep import duties and get their hands on authentic luxury goods at lower prices.

At the moment, there are hundreds of thousands of people involved in Daigou business producing more than 240,000 virtual stores and offering almost 15 million overseas items.

Many young Chinese studying in cities like New York, London, Paris, Milan and Tokyo have became Daigou agents and started their ad hoc businesses.

Haili Liu became a Daigou agent when she started a Fashion Marketing course in New York.

Her first clients were her friends back at home, and then friends of friends. As her client group expands, she posts pictures of the latest collection of bags, shoes and other accessories regularly, on WeChat and Weibo, two of the most powerful Chinese social media platforms. Among the most popular brands requested by clients are Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Interested clients will then make contact and wire the deposit or full money by bank transfer or Alipay, a Paypal-like secure online payment tool operated by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. However, the anti-corruption campaign launched by the Chinese government has exerted a hugely negative influence on her business as flaunting designer watches and giving extravagant gift to officials is now frowned upon.

Affair: fifty

However, most Daigou agents attempt to make more profits and dodge these fees by underreporting the value of goods, or failing to declare them at all. Lusha Wang, one of many Chinese students in London who become a Daigou agent, specialises in finding pieces by young British designers like Christopher Kane and House of Holland for clients in China. On one hand, it is very hard for discerning consumers to have access to emerging designers’ collections back at home and it is much cheaper to buy them here in London. On the other hand, luxury brands and Louis Vuitton and Burberry are easily recognised by customers, and those emerging brands are less known so that there is little chance they will be caught.

In the past few years, the Chinese government has been stepping up enforcement and imposing fines for those who are caught. Customs officials have also started screening packages with x-ray machines. At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce has proposed reducing both the import duty and consumption tax on foreign luxury goods in the hope that such an adjustment would bring spending back to the domestic market and drive economic growth.

Affair: fifty-one

Recently, an article spread the Chinese social media has discovered that many of Daigou agents’ assurances of authenticity turn out to be empty promises, and counterfeit is deeply ingrained in the Daigou business.

In the article, a supplier based in Suzhou, who exports counterfeit cosmetics products to foreign countries, tells that some large trading company in the US specializing in the acquisition of high-quality imitations, where upon receiving his products, they make some adjustments to them and sell them back to China. These ‘adjustments’ include forging foreign shipping labels and receipts to make the deal look more believable. Daigou agents only need to contact the company, and they will be supplied with the counterfeits to sell and ship back to China.

Despite the anti-corruption campaign, the tightened customs regulation and the rampant knock-offs, it seems unlikely that the Daigou business will cool off any time soon. According to a recent study by Bain & Company, a global consulting firm, nearly 60% of consumers have made at least some luxury purchases through similar channels as Daigou, rather than from brand boutiques or department stores, and half of those who have not purchased this way would consider it in the future.

The Daigou market is also forecasted to exceed 16 billion dollars in 2014. However, as Chinese customers become more discerning and educated, it may not be long before they find another way to satisfy their hunger for luxury goods.

Spring 2015

In 1997, the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the People’s Republic of China.

I can still remember the grand celebration at that time, even though I was only in primary school. The policy of ‘One Country Two Systems’ has been put into the textbook of politics in ever since. However, residents in mainland China and Hong Kong have showed different attitudes towards the Return. Because of the different state systems and lifestyles, the Return has brought local residents in Hong Kong with a complex feeling mixed with anxiety, confusion, apathy, and even anger.

Manifesto

During the 150 years of colonization of the United Kingdom, a lot changes and developement have been made in Hong Kong. From being colonized to being governed and finally to self-governance, the Western educational, legal and social system have enabled Hong Kong people to see the world from a different point of view. From the Free Trade Port in the 19th century to the prosperity of economy in the 20th century, the stable society structure and the rapid economic development have made Hong Kong very famous in Asia before the Return. It has also brought the self-consciousness of being a Hong Kongnese.

What is Hong Kong? To whom does it belong?

Confused yet determined, Hong Kong people have given themselves an answer with integrity – ‘Hong Kong belongs to Hong Kong people’.

Behind Occupy Central Hong Kong people deprecated the delight feeling that Mainlanders shared. As for the socalled ‘return to ones’ root’, Hong Kong people don’t have the pride of ‘being a Chinese’ as in colonial period any more. Instead, they are thinking about the possible negative effects of the Return.

After the freedom of individual travel to Hong Kong and Macao became possible in 2003, Mainlanders preferred to travel to the relatively cheap and exotic Hong Kong instead of foreign countries. It has created many employment opportunities, promoted local economy and also, inevitably brought some social problems in Hong Kong. Many under-educated tourists from mainland China have violated the public regulations in Hong Kong. For example, there are tourists jumping the queue in the Disneyland, eating hot food in the subway and even children peeing anywhere in city. Facing the condemnation on newspapers and Internet, the Mainlanders have counterattacked with the moral superiority of Hong Kong people.

Affair: fifty-three

Word

Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Manifesto

Spring 2015

Perhaps these incidents are not enough to cause the conflict between people in mainland China and Hong Kong. Moreover, tourists from the mainland have rushed to purchase the milk powders for the relatively cheaper price and better quality, which has caused the lack of commodity and rise of price in Hong Kong. Even though it may be exaggerating to say that ‘the local people don’t have enough milk powders for themselves’, it does reflect the severe influence the lack of commodity could exert.

Besides, as there are more and more noveau riche from mainland China going to Hong Kong only for its tax-free luxury goods, many luxury brands deliberately only sell to customers from mainland China, which obviously makes the situation even more tense.

Affair: fifty-four

Affair: fifty-five

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Apart from material resources, there has been an increasing number of students from mailand China admitted by top universities in Hong Kong, which has also made local students fear for the shrinking educational resources. The different education system and campus culture have offered Mainlanders with many difficulties, from language barriers to political opinions, from study methods to club activities.

While discriminating and excluding students from the mainland, Hong Kong student also feel the threats.

One month after Occupy Central started, the leaders, Benny Yao Ting Dai and Jian Min Chen, have came back to university to work, but the civil referendum claimed by demonstrators has not taken place yet. Ordinary people may never understand the political game behind the demonstration. What Occupy Central means to them may just be an experience of strike and demonstration.

The longing for democracy of Hong Kong people has been noted by the world, but it will soon be proved that an immature clamour and a fearless bleeding cannot change the status quo of Hong Kong. In order to ease the conflict and solve the problem, it is no use to overturn the Chinese regime and establish an American one. Hong Kong people should reflect on themselves. The social problems of education, healthcare and resource need to be solved by ways of regulation and policy, instead of conflicts between policemen and citizens on the street. The cultural problems should be resolved through communications and understandings, instead of insults and abuses online. It took Hong Kong 150 years to transform from resistance of British governance to acceptance.

It may be impossible for Hong Kong to fully accept Chinese governance in less than 20 years.

Furthermore, due to the ‘One Child’ policy in mainland China, many pregnant women would stowaway to Hong Kong to give birth to their second babies and at the same time secure a Hong Kong passport for their child. Those people are regarded as ‘locusts’ by the locals, as they believe that Hong Kong people should not pay taxes for those children without Hong Kong parents.

All these discontented feelings led to the resistance and upgraded to the demonstration after the failure of the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by universal suffrage.

Occupy Central finally broke out in September 2014.

Benny Yao Ting Dai, the vice professor of law in Hong Kong University, Yao Ming Zhu, the priest, and Jian Min Chen, the vice professor of sociology in Chinese University of Hong Kong, together with local citizens, initiated the demonstration of Occupy Central. They required the real general election and the impeachment of Leung Chun ying.

However, after one month of strike, tear shell, conflict, counteraction and dialogue, who is the winner?

Actually, talking with Hong Kong students in the UK, I realise that neither Hong Kong people nor Mainlanders know well of each other. On one hand, mainlanders don’t know much about the political regime and the real life of Hong Kong people and just curtly conclude that they bite the hand that feeds them. On the other, Hong Kong people know even less about the mainland and denounce the government and demand the independence. At the moment, mutual understanding is perhaps the key to all the answers.

The right and wrong of Occupy Central can’t only be judged by one person. Among the demonstrators, there are people who want to protect the history and integrity of Hong Kong, residents who hope to solve problems and students who yearn for democracy. However, it is undeniable that there are also people who are irrational and radical.

The demonstration has interfered with normal business and public order. The violent conflicts and chaos have happened occasionally; even family members may dispute due to different opinions. We support the local residents to resolve the problem and we also expect a general election that meets the international standards. A society ruled by law is neither to do whatever the government asks, nor to do what radical people demands.

Affair: fifty-six

Affair: fifty-seven

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Manifesto

Spring 2015

Affair: fifty-eight

Affair: fifty-nine

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Chinese Actresses in Hollywood Films

Affair: sicty

Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang

Manifesto

The appearance of Chinese actors in Hollywood films was almost at the same time as the invention of films. However, Chinese actors and Hollywood films might start off on the wrong foot at the beginning. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, ‘yellow peril’ was the early impressions that Westerners had towards Chinese, whom they knew little about. From the manual labor in Chinese Laundry Scene to the villain in The Blood of Fu Manchu, to the small man in The House without a Key, the images of Chinese men in Hollywood films were not so well presented, and there were hardly any depictions of Chinese women.

After the World War II, China gradually regained its strength. While the political, economic and social systems were changing subtly; the images of Chinese in Hollywood films were also transforming, but not all towards the good direction. In 1937, the film The Good Earth, adapted from the novel about the rural life in China written by Pearl S. Buck, first appeared on screen.

Its production team from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to use the Chinese actress Anna May Wong to play the heroine and chose a German actress instead. The official reason behind the casting was the prohibition of the marriages between different races. Though this black-and-white film received many positive reviews, it was still not real and vivid enough to see a Caucasian actress as a rural Chinese woman

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In the 1970s, Hollywood made Bruce Lee and Kung Fu as the new image of East Asia, which exerted a huge influence on the representation of Chinese women in Hollywood in the following decades. In the millennium, Lucy Liu, one of the best-known Chinese-American actress in Hollywood, played the role of Alex Munday in Charlie’s Angels, setting up a successful example of Chinese ‘fighting girls’ who is good at martial arts. Even though there are more Chinese ‘fighting girls’ in Hollywood films later on, they all lack the performance of real feelings. They are only responsible for the action scenes and laughing stocks and have nothing to do with complicated feelings like love and hatred.

Affair: sixty-one

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Since then, Chinese actresses like Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Bingbing Li and Bingbing Fan have all appeared in Hollywood films as indifferent women who are only good at fighting. In spit of that, these Chinese actresses, even though dressed in Chinese costumes, still perform in a Western way. The roles they have played may be oriental and mysterious, but they are without past, without future, without conflicts or attitudes. Sometimes, the Hollywood team doesn’t even have a detailed and comprehensive design for Chinese characters. For example, Bingbing Fan designed the hairstyle of her role Blink in X Men: Days of Future Past to present the Chinese elements. Besides, In Bingbing Li and her team created the name and the style of Yueming Su in Transformers: Age of Extinction, since the original design was too stereotyped and old-fashioned.

It is undeniable that a lot of blockbusters nowadays only use Chinese actors in the films to draw investment and take box office from China.

Manifesto

Manifesto

A few impressive characters played by Chinese actresses in Hollywood films may be Consort Shu played by Vivian Wu in The Last Emperor, Yoona-939 by Xun Zhou in Cloud Atlas, Sayuri by Ziyi Zhang and the Hatsumomo by Li Gong in Memoirs of a Geisha.

Xun Zhou is perhaps more famous in the fashion industry than in the film industry internationally. Her performance as Yoona-939 in Cloud Atlas was amazing. In the complicated plots of the film, Yoona-939 was only a replicant. When sexually offended by her boss, she expressed with certainty the wish of not yielding to violence and crime, even though she might not understand at all. Within her limited span of life, Yoona-939 laid a foundation of resistance and intrepidity for the whole story.

Affair: sixty-two

The Last Emperor was a successful attempt in the 1980s for the international co-productions. The filmmakers from China, Italy and the UK joined hands together to restore the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. This was a big challenge for Vivian Wu, who was just 21 years old at that time. The role she played was Wenxiu, a concubine of Puyi who was also known as Consort Shu. She was independent and delicate, but not vulnerable. Wu used her fluent English to present this high-profile Chinese woman in history, which also laid a solid foundation for her later acting as Soong May-ling, the mother of the Republic of China.

Affair: sixty-three

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Manifesto

Ziyi Zhang is no stranger to Hollywood. Apart from her performance in Chinese stories like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Grandmaster, her role as Sayuri in Memoirs of a Geisha is perhaps the most impressive one in the international stage.

Though the controversial role as a geisha aroused huge dispute in China, she put great effort in depicting the identity and presenting the complex feelings of a geisha. One could even tell her emotions and desires through her watery and grey eyes.

The role of Hatsumomo played by Li Gong in in Memoirs of a Geisha has also left a deep impression. As one of the most successful Chinese actresses in Hollywood, Gong has showed characteristics of both traditional and modern Chinese women.

At the early stage of her career, in Raise the Red Lantern and in The Story of Qiu Ju, Gong presented to us the image of an earthy peasant. However, as she became recognised internationally, she tended to taken more challenging roles. In Memoirs of a Geisha, Hatsumomo was only a supporting character with a few lines, but Gong managed to portray a vivid image.

Struggling in lust, vanity and aging, she showed us the spirit of ‘Bushido’ from a female perspective and sacrificed her life for love. Later on, in Hannibal Rising, Gong played the role of Lady Murasaki and depicted perfectly a middle-aged woman caught between lust and slaughter. Regrettably, among those characters, three of them are designed as Japanese women.

Affair: sicty-four

Maybe Hollywood still doesn’t know enough about China. More and more co-production films have brought us the hope of entering the international stage. However, at the same time, we hope there are more cultural reasons instead of commercial ones behind these co-productions. We are eager for more exquisite and detailed Chinese women characters. The Flowers of War and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, though performed not so well in box office, are still great attempts considering their original intentions.

Affair: sixty-five

Fashion.

Spring 2015

惊 蛰 Mentors 宜 忌 嫁 娶

入 宅

求 嗣 栽 种

斋 醮

送 礼

出 行

放 水

牧 养

裁 衣

祭 祀

盖 屋

造 桥 求 医

纳 畜

Manifesto

三 月 六 日

Word Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan Picture Zhiwen Tang

破 土

安 葬

行 舟

动 土

求 财

Fashion: sixty-nine

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

M D

More attentions have been drawn on independent Chinese designers since Liyuan Peng, the First Lady of China, wearing designs by Chinese designer Ke Ma in public. As the promoter of independent Chinese designers and brands, more and more multi-brand shops have been set up in the fashion industry in China. DONGLIANG, one of the most influential multi-brand shops in China, is the leader in the market with two successful stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

‘We hope we can make a difference in the developing industry.

We want to offer young designers a fair platform’, said Tasha Liu, co-founder of DONGLIANG.

Founded in 2012, WSHIEN, an emerging multi-brand shop stocking many local and international designers’ brands. It takes Xi Li, founder of WSHIEN, only two years to open three stores in two cities, Chongqing and Changsha.

WSHIEN has brought the elegant design and the unique style to both cities, where there are long histories and rich cultures, as well as traditional architectures and modern skyscrapers.

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Fashion: seventy

How did you become the co-founder of DONGLIANG? After graduation, I got an offer from Deloitte but I decided to go to Ogilvy & Mather to do strategic planning and consumer analysis. One day, I suddenly had an epiphany and realised that even though working in a large corporate would lay a career path for me, it would be so much more interesting and memorable if I committed to a career in a relatively new industry. So I quitted my job without any hesitation or regret. At that time, DONGLIANG was just a small store in Wudaoying Hutong with only ten designers’ collections and I was just a loyal customer visiting DONGLIANG every time I went to Beijing. I talked to other two co-founders Charles and Nan Lang a lot back then, and we even stayed up all night to discuss business ideas. I was their customer first and then we became friends and partners eventually. I want to devote myself to help and promote young Chinese designers as I truly believe in their designs.

How do you think of fashion buyers in China?

Buying is still a very new business. Most of young Chinese designers can’t afford to open their own store, so multi-brand shops are vital platforms for them to reach to consumers. With the help of fashion media and social media, multi-brand shops are growing fast. Unlike fashion buying in Western countries, buyers in China cannot have access to the front end of the supply chain, which creates delays on orders. For example, the Spring/Summer collection cannot be launched in shop floor until April or May, which is very late.

What is so special about DONGLIANG? Firstly, DONGLIANG is the pioneer in all multi-brand shops in China. It was born in China and it serves Chinese designers and customers. Secondly, DONGLIANG focuses on original Chinese designs. We only showcase Chinese designers’ work. That’s why when it comes to Chinese design, everyone will think of DONGLIANG. Thirdly, DONGLIANG is not just a multi-brand shop; it is also a multi-channel platform. The event ‘One Day In DONGLIANG’ in Shanghai Fashion Week and the DONGLIANG showroom in London Fashion Week are our primary attempts to connect designers to all the related industries.

In one word, Chinese design is not only a product category, but also the core spirit of DONGLIANG.

Fashion: seventy-one

M W

How did you come up with the name WSHIEN? WSHIEN is actually the anagram of ‘wenshi’, which is the pinyin for ‘greenhouse’ in Chinese. I hope it is a warm, energetic and safe space for young designers’ works.

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Why did you open your new store in Changsha, a secondary city, instead of metropolis like Beijing and Shanghai?

Although Changsha is a second-tier city, there are a lot of celebrities coming here because of the influence of the local TV station. It is why Changsha is an important fashion market that cannot be overlooked. My team and I had spent a lot of time on researches before we opened the third store of WSHIEN here in Changsha. People living in this city are born with a pioneering spirit. They embrace creativity and innovation. In the past few years, more and more locals began to spend money on young Chinese designers’ collections and their purchasing power cannot be belittled.

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How do you think of WSHIEN in the current fashion industry in China?

When my team and I choose the designers and brands, we want to be exclusive and we try our best not to stock the same brands as the department stores here. It not only benefits the customers and offers them the variety and diversity of products, but also help WSHIEN to be the special and unique. At the same time, we prefer simple yet tasteful designs and exciting details to exaggerated styles.

The price for an item in our store ranges form 1000 RMB to 8000 RMB, and most of our customers tend to spend 2000 RMB to 3000 RMB. What brands do you have in store at the moment?

So far, the brands we have stocked include well-known and established brands, such as Chictopia by designer Christine Lau, COMME MOI by designer Yan Lv, VEGA ZAISHI WANG by designer Zaishi Wang and HUE FENG by designer Huan Feng, and young and emerging brands, such as Chirsou by Dan, Chris by Christopher Bu and AwayLee.

Spring 2015

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Spring 2015

Have you seen any positive progress in the fashion industry in the past few years?

In my opinion, the fashion industry in China has grown a lot in the last year. There are more and more multi-brand shops like DONGLIANG especially in second-tier cities.

I never see them as competitors. On the contrary, I would like to create a better market together with them. However, some multi-brand shops like to follow us on the selection of designers and contact the designers after we have already promoted them. It is undeniable that designers will benefit from more stockists simply because it will generate more sales and make more money. A larger market and an increasing demand are supposed to lower the cost. However, the new multi-brand shops are increasing the retail price in second-tier cities to attract designers. Young Chinese designers who want to be showcased in DONGLIANG because of our reputation as a friendly platform, but some multi-brand shops want to stock those designers only with the hope that their reputation will bring more customers in store.

What is your criteria when choosing a new designer or brand?

There are a few steps. Firstly, we will think if the style of a new designer and the image of a new brand are consistent of that of DONGLIANG. Secondly, we will evaluate if the style and the price are what our core customers interest in.

Since we would love to grow with the designers, the age, background and popularity are not our concerns.

M D

How do you think of this generation of young Chinese designers?

Most of the designers we are working with have study experience abroad and come back to China to start their own studios after 2009. What they have in common is that they all started their own brands immediately after graduation without much experiences working in other established companies. There are also some designers who have never studied abroad, but there won’t be many like them in the coming future, as more and more designers think earning a foreign degree is a royal road to fame and success. Chinese students are a large group in Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion nowadays. They have absorbed inspirations and searched for their voices for the first two years, then presented their ideas in the final year. It is good that they rarely think about the business side of their design so that they can focus on their design and style.

Fashion: seventy-two

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What makes WSHIEN stand out from all multi-brand shops in China?

I think a good multi-brand shop is not only about beautiful clothes, bust also about optimistic attitudes towards life.

That is why there is a bookstore, a teahouse and a small cinema in WSHIEN. From time to time, we invite professionals from the fashion industry here to give a talk or an interview. I also think the relationship between a dress and a person is very interesting. Recently, we have done an event called ‘Little Red Person’. We have invited seven VIP customers and seven photographers to collaborate with us for this event. Each customer is asked to wear the same red coat and each photographer is asked to create a personalised fashion photoshoot to show the customer’s personality. One coat can be interpreted in different ways by each person. At the same time, each person may find another side of herself through the camera lenses of photographers.

What is your plan and expectation for WSHIEN? I am not an ambitious person. I just want WSHIEN to survive and thrive in this city peacefully and gracefully.

I also hope people will get the message WSHIEN try to deliver, which is a simple and classic style and a easy and tasteful lifestyle. I will be grateful if, in a few years, people still remembers the glass house of WSHIEN and the influence it has on their perception of fashion.

Former PR Executive at Giorgio Armani, China

Former PR assistant at Longchamp, Co-founder of Streetstories.com

On May 31st, 2012, the grandest fashion show of Giorgio Armani in China took place in Beijing.

Behind this unforgettable celebration were great efforts of its Chinese PR team. Claire Zou, an important member of the team, has chosen a career in the PR industry over the well-paid financial company. Growing up in Beijing, she is not only as perseverant as most of the Chinese people, but also confident with her international views.

With the rapid development of Internet, social media has become a most crucial platform in the fashion industry. Jennifer Qian who is a student at London College of Fashion. She together with her friends have founded Streetstories.com, a social media platform which showcasing emerging talents in England.

Her working experience as a fashion publicist at Longchamp is a precious memory for her.

Fashion: seventy-three

Manifesto

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Spring 2015

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Spring 2015

Growing up in Beijing, how do you think of the role it plays in the fashion industry in China?

Beijing is my hometown and the capital of China. Compared to other metropolis like Shanghai and Hong Kong, which are the centres of economy in China, Beijing is more like a centre for politics and culture. That is also why more and more international luxury brands are setting up their branches in Shanghai instead of Beijing.

How did you get into this line of work?

I’ve never planned to become a fashion publicist before.

I studied Finance for my Bachelor’s degree and naturally I accepted a job offer from a financial company in my final year. However, just a few months before my graduation, Giorgio Armani, for which I interned for a while before, reached out to me and offered me an opportunity to work in its PR department. I was already very interested in fashion back in university and the internship at Giorgio Armani was an incredible experience. After my boss offered me a permanent position shortly, I was very struggled. On one hand, finance was what I had learned in university for four years. On the other hand, fashion is a completely new world full of surprise and excitement. Finally, I asked myself, ‘would I be regretful if I gave up the opportunity?’

The answer was an absolutely ‘yes’.

Compared to other Western countries, what is the biggest difference working in the fashion PR industry in China?

The market for luxury goods in China only began to develop in the past decade. The role PR play in publicising and branding are very important. However, the PR department in some fashion brands in China is also responsible for merchandising and customer relation management.

Fashion: seventy-four

M J

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I heard that you grew up in both Shanghai and Changsha, how do you think of the role they play in the fashion industry in China?

Yes, I had lived in Changsha until I was twelve years old.

Located in South Central China, Changsha is a relaxing city with a highly developed entertainment industry. Local people lead a fun and lively life and they are willing to invest in fashion items. Shanghai is where I grow up and see the world. It is an amazing city full of opportunities. It is also a fair city that treats immigrants the same as locals. More and more start-up businesses related to fashion and design choose Shanghai as their base because creative ideas can come into life here. An increasing number of international luxury and fashion brands set their branches in Shanghai as well because it is the centre for economy in China. Shanghai will be my first choice if one day I would like to establish my own business.

M C

Does it bring more difficulties?

The PR industry in China is still exploring and developing.

Internationally, fashion publicists have a specific job description. I understand that it would take some time for China to establish a mature fashion PR industry, just like it has taken Chinese a long time to understand the brand heritage behind luxury goods.

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As the only daughter in your family, how do your parents think of your work?

I think their opinions are more related to their own work experience rather than the fact that I am the only daughter.

My dad works in the government, so naturally he prefers that I get a stable job in national companies. However, stability is not a priority for me. I want to do what I want to do, which means I need to persuade them and balance work and family.

How do you think of your experience as a PR assistant at Longchamp?

I came across this opportunity on Weibo by chance.

The two-month experience has showed me the real fashion industry and made me interested in the PR industry. I have got a better understanding of the roles of a fashion publicist. I would love to do similar jobs in the future, of course for the brand I believe in. The design, the concept and the culture of Longchamp are what I admire.

M

You studied fashion design for your Bachelor’s degree but you worked as a fashion publicist. Why do you change the direction of your career?

When I was in university in Shanghai, I thought I would become an excellent designer in the future. I never give up this dream at all. I am just exploring all the possibilities.

My experience in Longchamp was just a good attempt.

I enjoy trying different jobs and learning new things.

At the moment, I prefer to do a job related with fashion PR or marketing. I think it will develop my interpersonal and communicative skills.

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While you are studying in London at the moment have you tried other works other than PR? I have tried some editorial works because I want to learn the process of delivering fashion photoshoots. Since fashion publicists always work hand by hand with editors, I would like to know more about their jobs to facilitate future collaborations. What really interests me at the moment is fashion buying. I think buying and retailing are more challenging than press and PR. I heard that you are going back to China afterwards, why?

I think it would be unwise to not going back to China.

On one hand, it is where I come from and I should contribute to the development of my hometown. On the other hand, I would love to grow mature at the same time as the fashion industry in China. I look forward to making some differences.

Fashion: seventy-five

M J

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How about the social media platform you’re working on right now?

It is just another of my career attempts. Streetstoris.com is a London-based multi-media platform including Weibo, WeChat, Instagram and an official website and showcasing emerging talents and interesting people. In the past two months, we have attracted about 2,000 followers on each platform. In fact, this idea came from a project I did for my MA course. I met with many London-based young designers during the process of market research. I thought it would be a good chance to create a platform for them. Fortunately, after Streetstories.com came to life, I have been working with a lot of friends with similar interests from photographers to journalists, from graphic designers to models.

Does your family have high expectation of you? Do you feel any pressure at all?

My pressure always comes from myself. My family try not to put a lot of pressure on me and they support every decision I make. They also have a huge influence on me indeed. My father is always my role model. I have learned from him the way to treat every person and every thing. He considers me as his equal. We often spend a lot of time talking about finance, economy and even politics. I really admire and respect him. Although he never says anything negative about what I am doing now, I guess he would be much happier if I could have a stable income.

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Will you go back into the fashion PR business?

I think it is very hard to be excellent at this line of work. I like being a fashion publicist mainly because I can see the outcome of my work quite quickly. I am still not sure if I want to stay in this business and I somehow believe in destiny. I hope I will come across a good opportunity.

M J

In the future, will you go back to China?

I am pretty sure that I will go back to China, even though I really enjoy my life in London and I hope I could spend the rest of my time here wisely. Immigration is not my choice, at least not at the moment. The fashion industry in China has a lot of potentials and many people are making efforts to make it a better place. I hope I can also make a difference.

Manifesto

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Co-founder of Shitang Showroom, Fashion Columnist at various chinese publications

Freelance Fashion Journalist

The establishment of Shitang Showroom in Shanghai Fashion week is of great significance.

Its co-founder, Ian Lam, who is also a famous fashion journalist and blogger. He is one of the most impactful figures in the Chinese fashion industry. He can be said as the Chinese equivalent of Alex Fury. After eight years in fashion journalism contributing to various publications including Vogue China, GQ China and the Chinese website of Financial Times, Ian Lam has finally taken a step into a new field.

From University of Southampton to London College of Fashion, the Beijing girl who known as ‘the devil wears Yohji’ to her friends, has changed her dream in fashion marketing to fashion journalism. What have been supporting her to take this new step are her love for the traditional print media, and her passion for the fashion industry.

M I

How did you start your career in fashion journalism?

I consider myself as an all-rounder in the industry. Music, theatre, dancing and painting are all my interests. I had been a journalist specialising in culture and music for 8 years before my friend asked me to write about fashion.

After a few years, I found that I had already done so many pieces on fashion, so I gathered them together and put them on my fashion blog Po Shi Shang. However, three years ago, I realised that I had spent too much time in journalism and I would love to try something new and exciting.

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In your opinion, what makes a good fashion journalist?

I may not be the best person to answer this question since I started my career as music journalist. But I think music is closely related to fashion as well since they are both parts of the pop history. I think the key to make a good fashion journalist is the passion and love for fashion. When you truly love something, you would spend more time reading and learning about it. Inevitably, there are restrictions on what can be said and what cannot due to the public policy, the financial relationship and many other reasons. In order to survive and thrive in the business, one needs to be smart and strategic.

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What does fashion mean to you?

To me, fashion is my whole life now. Fashion feeds my soul.

When I see some stylish people wearing something nice, I just feel delighted from the inside. Everything happens in this industry is exciting to me. I can’t help paying attention to fashion.

M C

How did your study experience in the UK inspire you?

My professor has a great influence on me. She used to work as an editor in the i-D magazine. She is a fun person. She is humorous and professional. There were less than twenty people in our class, so she can tutor everyone attentively.

Until now, when I encounter problems sometimes, I still can imagine her talking to me in her usual tone. Apart from the great encouragement and advice she gave me, she had also taught me many important qualities about journalists.

For example, as a fashion journalist, you can never just write at home, instead you should go out and get to know what is happening out there, because that is what you need to write about. You need to know all aspects of an issue and integrate what you know together. You never know when you may need these materials in your writings. There were few Chinese students in my class, so I got to communicate with people from other countries to the greatest extent.

Thus I had the chance to know all their novel ideas and new perspectives of seeing things.

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Fashion: seventy-six

C

You have expressed many interesting ideas in your columns.

Would you like to share with us your opinion on fashion briefly?

Before I write anything, I would usually examine it comparatively in context of pop culture because fashion is a part pop culture. I think fashion would be meaningless without its cultural significance. There are complex social, economic and cultural reasons behind whatever is popular and trendy. Chasing after the ever-changing trend without a cultural background makes people frustrated. Fashion is an epitome of an era, a reflection of a zeitgeist, a way to understand our society.

How do your readers think of your blog and your columns?

Some readers have left me messages saying that my articles are too difficult to understand. However, the majority of my readers who truly understand what I am writing about are either fashion editors or fashion practitioners. I think impacting 100 Key Opinion Leaders are more powerful than having 1,000 random readers.

Fashion: seventy-seven

As your birthplace, does Beijing have a great influence on your interest in and perception of fashion?

To be honest, not too much. Perhaps it was the interesting multi-brand shops in Beijing that had ignited my initial interest in the fashion industry. But the market of magazines is actually distributed evenly in China. And there is no doubt that the fashion industry is more developed in Shanghai, thus I have to commute between Beijing and Shanghai all the time. What have really influenced me and let me fall in love with this profession is the experience I had in the UK.

Spring 2015

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How did you start the Shitang Showroom?

In January this year, I went Paris to see the latest collection of SANKUANZ. That is where I met Jiong Yang, who is in the finance and investing business. We talked about why there was no showroom in China over a cigarette. We both agreed that the fashion industry in China was different from that in Western countries and we didn’t really have a buying and selling mechanism. However, both Chinese designers and retailers are developing rapidly nowadays, which creates an opportunity for us. So we decided to build a platform for both sides. Exception De Mixmind, whose design has been worn by the First Lady of China, is the first successful Chinese luxury brand but it will not be the only one. We are going to help the fashion industry to grow and mature for young designers in China.

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Shitang Showroom just came to life in the Shanghai Fashion Week SS15. Would you make it a regular event and expend it to Beijing?

We will do at least twice a year, one in spring and one in autumn. We are also thinking about expand our service into consulting and public relations. Ideally, designers only need to focus on their designs and we can take care of the rest. At the moment, we don’t have a plan to go to Beijing because the game rules are quite different in the capital. It is inevitable to involve the political influence. We want to focus on the market in Shanghai for now. It is good enough for us.

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Among the young Chinese designers showcased in Shitang Showroom, do you have a favourite?

I have seen lots of excellent young Chinese designers in Shitang Showroom. There are more talents than what have been showcased here. It is a shame we can’t invite all of them because of the limitation of space. I think that Xiaoxue Ban has lots of potentials as he used to work at Exception De Mixmind and understand how the industry works. He is aware of the difference between runway and retail and has a reasonable pricing strategy, which makes it much easier for his brand and business to develop. Successful brand calls for not only good design, but also operation and preparation.

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Fashion: seventy-eight

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What do you feel so far working as a fashion journalist?

When I came back to China, I was hired to write about the fashion week in September. Actually it was also hard at the beginning. Articles about fashion week need to be published on time. Once you are late, you will lose your readers and the traffic on the website. It was inevitable that I was a little scared at first. But after one or two days, I was able to do my research and write reviews calmly. In that month, I wrote every day, and every day I wrote thousands of words. In that process, gradually I found myself getting on the right track. Now that I am thinking about it, I feel that it is like solving a math problem – there are steps to do it. The month of freelance work was like a training course for me. Sometimes when I read my old articles, I would even feel surprised and strange.

Why did you choose to come back to China to be a fashion journalist?

The most important reason was the UK visa. It was a very realistic issue. It was very hard to get a work visa in the UK. I had a visiting student visa when I was in the UK. It was impossible for me to renew my visa or do part-time jobs.

Besides, even if I had a job as a fashion journalist, I needed to use my second language, English, and it was too hard.

Finally, I think in the field of fashion journalism in China, there are too few editors that have been trained professionally and have overseas degrees. I believe there are more opportunities for me.

How is your work at the moment? Is there something you never expected come along?

Now I am mainly reporting fashion weeks for the website of SELF magazine in China. I would like to specially thank my editor here. I don’t need to go to the office everyday, but from my communication with my editor and other colleagues, I am getting a better understanding of the job, the magazine and the industry. Indeed, there are some rules for journalists and editors that I never knew about. For example, I can’t just focus on whatever I like. I need to think about my readers and to focus on what they are interested in. I am the one to the readers the trend of the season, the people of the month and the news of the moment. When my editor told me that an article had been viewed by more than ten thousands people in an hour, I suddenly realized that my writing didn’t just exist in my computer or among my own social circle. Not until then did I realize that no matter what I write, it has to be serious. Being a freelance writer, I am branding for myself, thus I can’t mess with it.

It is not only for me, but also for the publications.

Designer at Yang Du, Lecturer at Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University, China

Designer and founder of Angel Chen

Yang Du, the mastermind behind the namesake brand Yang Du, is going to be a lecturer at Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University, one of the best art education institutions in China.

Although it is incredibly challenging to establish a career in a foreign country, Du has her own way to cope with all the difficulties in this long-lasting journey.

It takes her ten years to create this colourful and lively world of designs and she finally manages to take the fashion heat that swept China in the 1980s to the UK.

Every year, the BA Graduation Fashion Show of Central Saint Martins always draws the most attention in London.Angel Chen, together with hercollection Les Noces, has become the rising star and heated topics this year. The young Chinese designer, who has been very active in campus, hasofficially madeher debutin the fashion industry in China, with her rebellious spirits and brand new collection.

Fashion: seventy-nine

Manifesto

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Where are you from originally? How does it influence your design nowadays?

I was born in Dalian, a coastal city. I started to learn traditional Chinese painting when I was five and I have never ceased to study art ever since. I first learned about fashion design when I was in high school and I developed a strong interest in fashion illustrations. At that time, Dalian is actually the centre of fashion industry in China and there were even fashion weeks. I also recall that in the mid-1980s, the fashion industry in Hong Kong is very lively with the designers educated in the UK and other Western countries. Besides, my mother has had a great influence on me. One of her biggest hobbies is to make clothes for me, especially pink ones. She has also taught me various techniques of knitting.

What does London mean to you? Have you ever thought about pursuit a career here when you first visited?

It was actually a trip to Paris that gave me the idea of coming to London.When I studied my Bachelor’s degree at Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University, I came to Paris for a contest and my works were shown in the Louvre. This experience changed my world literally. I even told my teacher that the fashion education in China wouldn’t offer me much career opportunities. I was very fond of John Galliano’s designs and his way of combining fashion and art at that time, therefore I decided to become his alumnus and come to Central Saint Matins to study. How time flies.

I have lived in London for almost thirteen years and it is like my second hometown witnessing my growth.

Your design is always focused on animals, prints and colours.

Why is it?

Design is a way for me to express my views of the world.

Those animals I designed are not only animals. They could also be characters or even people. Animals are just a symbol and a representation.

What is a Yang Du girl?

A Yang Du girl is easygoing, humorous and brave. She also has a sense of effortless sexiness. She is a lot like me, honestly.

Wen Liu and Joan Smalls are both my muses and they have also collaborated with me. I also like the role Björk played in Dancing in the Dark. The freedom and fearlessness in her blood are what I appreciate.

Fashion: eighty

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What does Shenzhen, your hometown, mean to you?

I was born in Chaozhou and moved to Shenzhen later with my parents. Shenzhen is a young and dynamic city with a history of only three or four decades. On one hand, it enjoys lots of incentives from Chinese government during development, which creates a great environment for the rapid growing economy. On the other hand, Shenzhen is too young to build up it’s own culture. It’s a material city full of opportunists and gold diggers. Growing up in this immigrant city, family is of great importance to me. I inheritthe design talentfrom my grandma who is really good at sewing and embroidering. Her craftsmanship is amazing.

Why come to London to study design?

I still remembered the moment when I first saw John Galliano’s work on a fashion magazinewhen I was in high school. It was mind blowing. I made my mind to study fashion design in London ever since then. My family were very supportive and they even gave up their plan to immigrate to Australia for me.

How do you think of your time in London?

I have been in London for five years and it’s my favorite city in the world. It’s a city of conflict and harmony. It is creative and energetic even thought it is an old city with a long history. To me, East London is the best part of the city because of its variety and diversity. I like the free lifestyle young people have here.

Looking through your designs, you are adhering to your style.

Do you think focusing on wedding designs will limit your potential and development?

You are the first one sayingI’m consistent. Maybe it’s true.

My interests are changing all the time butthe only thing I want to do is natural, organic and cultural design. When I was doing an internship at Marchesa and Vera Wang in New York, the wedding dresses I saw everyday was soulless to me. To many women, there is only one wedding in their life. Therefore, everyone wants to be unique and special.

The most important thing about designing a wedding dress is not only being elegant and graceful, but also presenting everything about the bride. One should wear the most exaggerated dress with the most joyful colours. Weddings in African tribes are good examples – everyone is dressed in brightcolours. White is neither the only choice for wedding dress, nor the only symbolfor pureness and sacredness. The only thing that matters is the heart of the bride.

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As one of the first and the few Chinese designers establishing a brand in London, do you have any secrets you would like to share?

Perseverance is my secret. Working in the fashion industry is not always as glamorous as it appears to be. Most of the times it is full of difficulties and challenges. There are always thousands of hours of work behind a successful fashion show. I consider myself very lucky because I love what I am doing. Without the love and the passion for design, I could never persist in what I am doing right now.

In a few previous interviews, you mentioned that you would come back to China eventually. Why is it?

It is not very accurate. I am always travelling between China and the UK, and my business is growing in both countries.

I can’t choose one over the other. Since I am still new to the Chinese market, I may spend more time developing my brand in China and also try to integrate the traditional Chinese crafts into my work. Recently, I have been offered to be a lecturer for third-year students at Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University. It has been a great surprise and also an honour for me to come back and teach at the university where I was educated. I am very excited to learn what students are thinking about nowadays. I feel the future of the fashion industry in China is my responsibility.

Do you have any advice to fledgling and emerging designers, especially Chinese designers?

Be yourself and be true to yourself. It is the how it works in the fashion industry. I think it is the best time for young Chinese designers. In the past few years, I have seen several young designers establishing their own brands and opening up stores, even chain stores. The fashion market in China is huge and full of opportunities.

Fashion: eighty-one

M A

Did you expect all the positive feedback about your collection Les Noces?

Thank god that people like it so much. I didn’t expect this at all. My classmates didn’t comment on my works before the show as theysaw them everyday and they couldn’t give unbiased opinions. However, most people were shocked the first time they saw my works. They were the most exaggerated and most colourful design in the whole show.

M A

It’s like you are making an atomic bomb.

Yes, I can’t agree more. At the very beginning, my purpose was just to make something beautiful. My professor advised me to conduct an in-depth research on John Galliano’s works and to find more inspirations. So I did. Later on, after seeing my works, my professor said that, ‘you are inspiring me now’. That was the moment I knew that everything was going the right direction.

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What’s the next step for your brand Angel Chen? Are you going to launch it in China?

I think my strength is not tailoring or draping, but styling.

I will stick to my style and my design, and hopefully launch my brand in Shanghai and New York. I like the idea of being a designer without borders. I will also collaborate with DONGLIANG. It is not only a multi-brand shop, but also a platform for young Chinese designers.The event ‘One Day in DONGLIANG’ in Shanghai Fashion Week was a huge success. I get lots of inspirations from the designers collaborating with DONGLIANG, including Yifang Wan, Yang Du and Xander Zhou. I have a lot to learn from them.

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Among all your friends who are designers, who is your favourite?

SANKUANZ and Tianzhuo Chen are very impactful visually.

After the London Collection: Men in June, I texted them my reviews, ‘I believe people who chasingafter their dreams will make the world a better place’.

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Designer and founder of HEFANG

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How did you fall in love with jewellery design?

My passion for jewellery design is deeply ingrained in my blood. When I was a little girl, my parents brought me from the north of China to the south and settled down in Zhuhai, a coastal city in Guangzhou province. My parents are in the business of fashion accessories. I basically grew up next to the showcases of jewellery. At that time, I realised that I had a special connection with gem and jewellery.

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Why did you choose to come to London to study jewellery design?

When I was about 13 or 14 years old, a customer from the UK came to my parents’ shop. He told me that Central Saint Martins in London was the best design college if I wanted to learn to design a beautiful piece of jewellery. Even though I didn’t really know about London or Central Saint Martins at that time, I made up my mind that I would go there to fulfil my dream of jewellery design.

Designer and founder of Lion Studio

Jewellery designer Hefang Sun spares no effort to create a romantic and innocent space for her designs in the luxurious world of jewellery. The Central Saint Martins graduate was the winner of the Astley Clarke Gold Award of the Bright Young Gem Awards at International Jewellery London in 2009. Inspired by Chinese origami, she explored the possibilities of folding metal into graphic and geometric pieces. After coming back to China, Sun launched her namesake fine jewellery brand HEFANG and established her working studio.

If you think jewellery is just something hard and ostentatious, then you just haven’t understood them very well. The cube-shaped ring that frequently appeared on the SS15 runway shows and various pictures on social media is showing the ingenuity and the taste of Sihan Lei, the designer of Lion Studio London.

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How did you decide to launch your own jewellery brand HEFANG? When I came back to China with the Bright Young Gem Awards, there were a lot of press on me. My friends all thought it would be the best time for me to start up my own business. However, I always told myself that I wouldn’t rush into something without comprehensive preparations.

I was only 22 years old at that time and I knew little about the market and the industry in China. I didn’t think I was ready. Therefore, I came to ELLE China to be an intern of the jewellery editor. In that short year, I met with many seniors and professionals in the fashion industry, including Tasha Liu, co-founder of the multi-brand shop DONGLIANG. The encounter with her and the talk with her helped me to make up my mind. It was the right time.

I launched the first collection Snowflake of HEFANG in the Christmas of 2012.

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Where is your hometown? How does it influence your career?

Actually my childhood has little to do with fashion.

I was born in a place called Enshi, in Hubei province.

Since I am from Tujia ethnic group, I grew up in a very different environment from big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. People from Tujia ethnic group are good at embroidering and weaving. My grandma even made cloth shoes for me when I was a little girl. Under such influences, I was obsessed with traditional Chinese elements when I first started jewellery design. I think vitality is the most important thing of a piece of jewellery, and this kind of vitality comes from people who wear the jewellery and from the way they wear them.

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Why did you come to the UK to study jewellery design?

I knew about the School of Jewellery in Birmingham by chance. It belongs to the faculty of Birmingham Institute of Art and Design at Birmingham City University. Though this school is probably not famous enough for people in the fashion industry, but in the jewellery industry, it is one of the best jewellery design institute in Europe. They have the coolest equipment, materials and teaching philosophy. My tutor and the head of the school are all leading figures of designing narrative jewellery. Their profound influence on me is obviously reflected in my design. Every collection I design has its own specific story and reflects personal feelings.

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Why did you choose fashion jewellery design among all courses?

As I said earlier, vitality is the greatest motivation behind my design. It is not enough for me if a piece of jewellery can only be displayed in shelves. It needs to be worn by people to show its vitality. After making friends with many young designers, I began to know about and fall in love with fashion jewellery design. Thus when I graduated, after being designer assistant in several local British brands, I started my own jewellery design studio, Lion Studio.

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Where does the idea of the cubic rings in your latest collection coming from?

Most inspirations of my design are from my personal emotions. Right after my first collection was highly praised, I began to feel the pressure. I was so afraid that I couldn’t design anything better. I stayed at home, depressed during that time. Finally, one day I came up with this idea to put many cubes together on the ring. The cubes look like small cells on the ring. They stand for the action of depressing your feelings inside. At the same time, I was thinking wearing those cubes on fingers could make people look like robots. Each joint is a part of the robot. It’s like me, working non-stop like a robot.

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Fashion: eighty-three

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How do you think of your brand HEFANG? I think HEFANG is a fashion jewellery brand with the attitude and craftsmanship of fine jewellery. The balloon shaped brooch in the Fun Park collection is a good example. Even though it looks simple, it takes a great effort. Every gem needs to be shaped like a balloon first, and cut and polished by hands to present its glow and shine. The whole process could take more than ten days to ensure that every piece is handmade and unique. I believe the funfair ablaze with lights, the romanticism lasting forever and the joy of being loved are wishes of every woman. A piece of beautiful, fun and exquisite jewellery will lead all the wishes to come true.

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How do you think of the relationship between jewellery and women?

The beauty of a woman cannot be measured by the value of the jewellery she wears. It is priceless if she is kind, content and peaceful and truly appreciates herself.

I believe that mature is the present that time gives to a woman and jewellery is the present a woman treats herself.

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Do you have any suggestions to students going to the UK to study design?

It is crucial to be able to manage your time and life. Don’t be afraid to try to do some part-time jobs and internships.

Don’t spend your time doing simple and easy works that doesn’t challenge your capability or help you to improve.

If you are studying fashion or design, working in a nice design boutique will give you direct access to cutting-edge works. There are fashion weeks, design weeks and many other events in London every year and they are great opportunities to learn about the industry. Don’t be shy.

Enjoy making friends and communicating with the society.

Fashion: eighty-four

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Do you think the process of designing jewellery is very industrialized and boring? Which part of jewellery design do you enjoy the most?

Not boring at all. I always think jewellery designers are just like fabric designers. When you touch a piece of metal, you will feel its special texture and have special connections with it. Apart from my own collection, sometimes I would cooperate with other designers from other fields. For example, once I designed a squirrel-shaped diamond ring for fashion designer Yang Du. We discussed with the craftsmen for a long time, and finally we decided to make a diamond squirrel with a set of movable teeth. To me, the greatest thing about jewellery design is that different people can appreciate and interpret my work from different angles.

My designs are simple, clear and genderless, and they have many possibilities to mix and match.

Where is the main market for Lion Studio at the moment?

Will you consider going back to China?

I may not go back to China very soon. I still prefer to stay in London as the lifestyle here fits me better. Now Lion Studio is mainly targeting at the market in Europe and the US. Previously, my second collection, which I am very proud of, is sold in Kabiri, a jewellery store showcasing emerging jewellery designers in London.

Is there any emerging and independent jewellery designer in China that you appreciate?

In fact, there are not too many independent jewellery designers in China. There is this brand called damnPRECIOUS, showcased in Shitang Showroom in Shanghai Fashion Week earlier. The ‘Kingdom of the Immortals’ collection is inspired by the Chinese mythology, the kingdom of the immortals in Classic of Mountains and Seas a Chinese classic of myth. I personally like it a lot. It is presenting a sense of Chinese black humor in a playful and exaggerated way. I think it is very important to find out what kind of design suits you the best. You need to know what you are good at and what you want to do.

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Cover Girls of The Young Companion

Manifesto

Manifesto

Word Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan

The Young Companion is the first major comprehensive pictorial in the history of China.

To deliver the principle of ‘universalizing education and promoting culture’, Mr Liande Wu founded The Young Companion in Shanghai in 1926, 10 years earlier than the Life Magazine in the US. It has been published in mainland China for nearly 20 years. Its influence still remains today, and one of the main reasons for its impact is the lively image of the magazine’s cover girls.

Those cover girls were not only the epitome of Chinese women at that time, but also a reflection of the developing process of Chinese society.

Fashion: eighty-six

The Young Companion mainly used illustrations with brief texts to present its rich and comprehensive contents. The main themes of this magazine included current domestic and international news, famous politicians and celebrities from various fields, exotic cultures and customs from all over the world, local and international film industry, scientific achievement, and the latest information about urban life.

Among the total 172 issues of The Young Companion published, only 11 of them used male models on the covers. While the rest of the issues all used female models on their covers, most of the cover girls were modern, young, pretty, well-dressed and from upper class. In the special context of concession culture in Shanghai back then, these cover girls were dressed in a style that combines both Chinese and western elements – they have the features of girls from respectable and traditional families, and yet they have this independent quality of women in the new age.

This special mixture gives them a mysterious attractiveness.

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The looks of those cover girls are worth being studied closely. The typical look of the cover girls is in accord with the standard of traditional oriental beauty — flat face, willow-leaf shaped eyebrows, long and slim eyes, red lips and pink cheeks. However, as time went by, the expression of those cover girls had changed subtly. On the early covers, the girls would not face the camera directly. They would lower their heads and face the other side, or lean their chins on their hands, as if they were thinking. Then, there were more and more girls facing the camera directly on the covers. Although their heads were still lowered, it was obvious that they eyes were gazing at the camera, showing a sense of subtle invitation. Such expression was typical in the photographs of Hollywood movie stars. The traditional rule of ‘smiling without showing the teeth’ had influenced many cover girls. Later, more and more cover girls finally got rid of the rules and could grin at the camera. Liberation of facial expressions went hand in hand with the liberation of postures in shooting magazine covers. Early photographs were mostly close shots — the cover girls usually sit tightly in front of the camera, sometimes with their hands leaning on their chests or chins, showing a sense of shyness, or even embarrassment on some level. Later on, there were more and more panoramic photographs shot outdoors, that is to say, the models can have more space to spread their body. Thus we can see more pictures of girls standing with their hands on the hips, or a variety of other postures on the magazine covers. Generally speaking, the cover girls were posing more and more freely — their postures had become more casual, relaxing, and matching surrounding settings more closely.

Fashion: eighty-eight

Manifesto

Manifesto

The cover of the first issue of The Young Companion is a tinted photograph of a smiling girl with flowers in her hands - this is Miss Die Hu, who became a popular movie star at the moment. The general image of the cover girls of this magazine is young, pretty, well-dressed and from the upper class. On some level, this image was a breakthrough of traditional Chinese women, who used to be submissive and dependent. Thus this image had become the new face of women at that time.

The Young Companion had been published for more than 20 years, during which period Chinese society was going through a big change. Particularly, the colonial culture in Shanghai was fiercely collided with traditional Chinese culture. Perhaps the image of those cover girls was reflecting exactly such change.

Fashion: eighty-nine

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Manifesto

Clothing and hairstyles are the reflection of time and fashion. Their changes can be obviously seen on the cover girls of The Young Companion. At first they were still wearing traditional costumes such as lined short gowns, vests, or topcoat-plus-skirts, which are all loose and comfortable. Later on, women in various fashionable dresses began to appear on the covers. They wore evening gowns, sports wears or all kinds of casual clothes. The improved long and narrow cheongsam dresses were becoming gradually popular. This type of cheongsam dresses is sleeveless, with stand-up collar, narrow waistline, and splits with various lengths.

It can highlight the curve of female body. Another noticeable trend was the appearance of girls in swimsuits, though swimsuits at that time were still conservative — sleeveless, with round collar, and one-piece. The cover girls also started to try on high heels. Regarding to the hairstyle, at first they had bangs on their forehead, and the rest of their hair tied into a bun at the back of their heads; then there were the popular student-style haircut during the May Fourth Movement; and later they began to perm small curls to their hair. Of course, the changes of clothing and hairstyle were not on a linear track, namely, fashion was always going up and down, and sometimes repeating itself. But the general trend was that the style had gone from monotonous to diverse, from traditional to modern.

The props used on the covers seem to have been experiencing the same trend. The cover girls who dressed as traditionally fair ladies usually held folding fans or mirrors. Normally they would spread the folding fans and hold them against their chins to present a sense of mystery and shyness. Apart from this, sometimes they may hold something like Ruan, a plucked stringed instrument, or an Oil-paper umbrella. Later, some cover girls began to hold books or newspapers to read, or wear sports wears, holding rackets or badminton. However, the most popular props were flowers. The cover girls would hold a bouquet in their hands, decorate their sideburns with flowers, or simply smile near flowers. Women are always associated with the image of flowers, just as the old saying says, ‘the beauty’s face and the flowers look better together’.

The covers of The Young Companion not only reflected the aesthetic trends of the society at that time, but also became the benchmark of the latest fashion, as well as the epitome of the age. The images of the cover girls showed the new look of women in 1930s after they had been through the May Fourth Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement, which lifted the heavy burden of feudalism for women. The Young Companion had provided a fresh vision to Chinese people in the pre-capitalism time, meeting their desperate needs of knowing about the rest of the world.

Fashion: ninety

Fashion: ninety-one

Spring 2015

Photographer Asoso Liu Assistant Yangzi Liang Keira Yi

Jennifer Qian Makeup Artist Yumi Koh Stylist Linzi Zhan Keira Yi Jennifer Qian Models Keke Zhang Evalyn Tan

Editor Linzi Zhan Word Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang

Young Companion

80 years ago, The Young Companion was also the forerunner of feminism with features on exciting topics such as , ‘A Woman’s Celibacy’ ‘How to Play with a Man’s Feelings’ ‘Why We Don’t need a Wet Nurse’ which were even better than some of the topics in current women’s magazines. Nowadays, Chinese women are much better educated and more independent. They are sophisticated enough to have their own opinions and express their own voice.

Fashion: ninety-three

Paying homage to The Young Companion, Mònì presents the traditional yet modern looks of Chinese women.

Manifesto

In 1926, The Young Companion was founded by Liande Wu in Shanghai and became the first and most significant pictorial in the Chinese history. The beautiful and graceful cover girls were one of the biggest selling point of the magazine. They were not only the epitome of Chinese women at that time, but also a reflection of the development of Chinese society.

Heritage.

清 明 四 月 五 日

宜 忌 纳 采

祭 祀

盖 屋

动 土

求 嗣

栽 种

送 礼

捕 捉

取 渔

伐 木

纳 畜

斋 醮

嫁 娶

安 葬

立 券

移 破 徙 土

入 殓

移 柩

行 舟

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Nvshu: a Language a Connection a Culture

Manifesto

Manifesto

Word Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan

In days of yore, only men learned to read and write in China while bound feet and social structures confined women to their husband and their family after marriage. But in a fertile yet remote valley of Xiaoshui River in Jiangyong County of Hunan province, women somehow developed their own way to communicate – Nvshu.

Nvshu, also known as Women’s Script, is the only existent gender-specific language in the world.

It was a delicate and graceful script handed down from grandmother to granddaughter, from elderly aunt to adolescent niece, from girlfriend to girlfriend, and never shared with men.

Nowadays, it would be called empowering women. However back then it was just a way for the sworn sisters of this tradition-laden Chinese countryside to share their hopes, their joys and their many sorrows. Women in this area have passed down this mysterious language for generations and formed their unique culture during the long-time seclusion with the outside world.

Heritage: hundred and four

Heritage: hundred and five

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Spring 2015

Spring 2015

A Language

A Connection

A Culture

It remains a mystery when Nvshu was first invented.

Some academics hold that it can be traced back to the Yangshao Culture in the Neolithic Age and came into being after Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified the Chinese characters around 259 - 210 B.C, since a large number of Nvshu characters are similar to the unearthed carved signs and painted pottery patterns.

In Jiangyong County, female friends are generally called ‘Laotong’. Laotong pledge one another fealty and friendship forever and could be passed down to the next generation.

In 2011, the movie ‘Snow Flower and the Secret Fan’, adapted from the namesake novel written by Chinese American writer Lisa See, was about this special connection of Laotong. Laotong use Nvshu to write to each other in letters, in handkerchiefs and in fans, and also compose songs and books out of their friendship and keep them for a lifetime.

Nvshu is not only an old language and a sororal connection, but also a unique culture, and wedding is the most important and interesting part of it. In the old times, the whole ceremony could take up to two months. The bride and her female friends often get together before the wedding to embroider the marriage costumes, read Nvshu works and sing Nvshu songs.

Nvshu characters look like women’s slender and wispy figure and they are written from top to bottom in columns that read from right to left. They resemble Chinese in some ways, if some of the characters were stretched and altered.

They also differ from each other in many respects.

According to researchers, Nvshu characters represent sound – the tones of the Cheng Guan dialect in the region – not ideas as in the Chinese ideograms. Nvshu also has distinct female characteristics in presentation techniques. Rhetorical devices including metaphor and thimble are used in Nvshu works.

Ever since its discovery in the early 1980s, scholars and local authorities have taken renewed interest in this exclusive language, trying to preserve it as the last women who are fluent reach the end of their lives. Generations of women once wrote their diaries in Nvshu and the few journals that have survived offer a unique chronicle of these private lives long ago. As a women’s language, Nvshu has played an instrumental role recording women’s life throughout history.

Heritage: hundred and six

However, the tight sorority, which includes growing up together in cobbled village lanes and gathering with adult women to weave and embroider, would be inevitably shattered when the time for marriage comes, as women must obey their husband in the patriarchal society in ancient China.

Three days after the wedding, the bride would receive Sanchaoshu, which means ‘third day book’ literally, from her Laotong as a wedding gift. It is a cloth-bound volume written in Nvshu in which her Laotong and her mother would record their sorrow at losing a friend and daughter and express best wishes for happiness in the married life that lay ahead. The first half-dozen pages contain these laments and hopes and the rest are left blank for the bride to record her own feelings and experiences.

In Jiangyong, not every woman can write or read Nvshu, but almost everyone can sing Nvshu songs. They can be about every aspects of women’s life, from farming to needlework, from how to be a daughter to how to be a wife. Whenever a Nvshu song is heard, young girls, married women and old women will all gather together to sing the song in a melodious yet pathetic tune.

Five years ago, Tan Dun, the renowned Oscar-winning composer originally from Hunan province, started a musical documentary project based on Nvshu. Inspired

by Béla Bartók, Tan Dun came to a small village in Jiangyong, interviewed the local elderly women who still uses the Nvshu language, and asked them to write down Nvshu poems and songs. He also dug into history and tried to find the source of the tune of Nvshu songs. He began his project with 13 women and when he finally finished last year, only 3 of them are still alive to see this symphony integrating modern technology, ancient sound source and visual presentation of the language.

After overcoming incredible difficulties, he unveiled the secret of this mysterious language and endangered culture to the world. He sees the connection of mothers, daughters and sisters in Nvshu songs and values this female power in the culture. He has contributed all the first-hand materials he and his team collected to National Museum of China and UNESCO. He has also committed to help Nvshu make the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Nvshu connects every aspects of life for women who have lived in the region through times, including work, friendship, marriage, customs and faiths. It is of vital significance and great value for researches on philology, linguistic, women’s studies and even history, archaeology, anthropology and ethnology.

In a sense, Nvshu gives women a voice to empower themselves and reflects a strong feminist self-awareness.

It is a pursuit of freedom, equality and independence in a patriarchal society.

Heritage: hundred and seven

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Lesbianism

Photographer Assistant

Naian Feng Yangzi Liang Jennifer Qian

Makeup Artist Stylist

Keira Yi Linzi Zhan

It is hard to explain the initiation of the romance between women from a historical perspective.

It might have started with a moment of loneliness of the Empress Chen expressed in the Nagato Poem, or, perhaps it was between the lines of the To a Neighbor Girl that Xuanji Yu wrote to Female Taoist priest Tsai Ping. These love and desires germinated between women are beyond friendship, obscure and poetic.

Models Jiaying Wang Lynn Nie

Linzi Zhan Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang

Manifesto

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Editor Word

Chinese history is all about men. No one has even noticed the ambiguous love between those lonely women. There used to be phrases called ‘Touching a Mirror’ which refers to the way that lesbians touch each other to fulfill their sexual desire is just like touching their own reflections in the mirror, ‘Sworn Lovers’, which refers to the sworn secrets that lesbians hold, and even ‘Lao Tong’, which refers to the sworn friendship and sisterhood in the remote region in Hunan province where Nvshu, also known as Women’s Script, is widely used. These terms were all known to describe the special bond between women.

However, as a matter of fact, lesbians and gays are the same in the matter of their love and desires. In a sense, because of the nature of feminine characters, lesbian love is even more faithful and suppress.

The basic pursuit of these women and men are supposed to be as natural as all human instincts, but the constraint of the notion of societal gender has made them the silent ones in the society.

They are just ordinary people who fall in love, sharing the resonance in their souls, enjoying the taste of art and having the life they long for.

Heritage: hundred and eight

Heritage: page number

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Spring 2015

Why lesbians are more reluctant to come out of the closet than gays in China? Here are the answers of Yinhe Li, the most famous sexologist and sociologist. ‘Many lesbians doesn’t understand what the meaning of lesbians or realise that they are lesbians. Gays cannot hide no more from himself when he realise that he cannot be sexually aroused by women.

However, women in China are more sexually passive, which makes it hard for them to truly understand themselves’.

‘People are more tolerant with lesbians than gays in China. On one hand, gays are considered equivalent with shame and sin in this patriarchal society.

On the other hand, women are usually regarded as trivial and insignificant, which to some extent, gives them a freedom, however powerless it may be, to hide their sexuality’

Heritage: hundred and ten

/Left _Dress asos _Earings Lion Studio /Right _Shirt & other stories _Tuxedo dungarees River Island _Tie Comme des Garçons _Earings Lion Studio

Heritage: hundred and eleven

/Left _Dress asos _Necklace Lion Studio _Jacket model’s private own /Right _Dress asos _Coat Alexander McQueen _Clutch asos _Necklace Lion Studio

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Ms W, a director of a documentary on lesbians offers another interesting opinion on lesbianism in China.

‘Chinese can accept homosexual people only if they are not a part of their family. Don’t ask. Don’t talk. It seems that homosexuality doesn’t exist if you don’t come out and just get married.’

It is true that it may be difficult for Westerners to understand what Chinese truly care about. Most Chinese accept homosexuality mainly because of the lack of religion. At the same time, Chinese value the meaning of family due to its importance in Confucianism. It would be deemed as abnormal if you come out as a gay or a lesbian and carry on the family line. _Tank top asos _Pants zara

Shirt zara_ Skirt with belt zara_ Heritage: page number

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_Glasses & other stories

Heritage: hundred and sixteen

Heritage: hundred and seventeen

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

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One Child Policy in China has not only effectively controlled the increase of population, but also lead to the 140,000,000 only children, which places more pressure on single lesbians and forces them to get married.

My friend J tells me that ‘in my home, women would feel ashamed if they were not married after 25.’

Chinese haven’t had a comprehensive understanding of homosexuality. The word ‘lesbian’ was a taboo and being a lesbian is a crime until 1997. In 2001, even though the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China officially removed homosexuality from the mental illness list, the government’s attitude is still three don’ts – don’t support, don’t object, don’t advocate.

Yinhe Li, the first female sexologist in China, has brought up the issue of legalization of same-sex marriage and presented a bill in the National People’s Congress and National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference from 2002. Even though her idea was considered too much ahead of the time, it raised the awareness of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

The legalization of same-sex marriage is not yet the normalization of homosexuality, but a protection without the discrimination.

In a recent research in China, almost half of the young lesbians have been the victims of domestic violence or school bullying. In some areas, there are even some parents allow boys to force themselves on their lesbian daughters, in order to make them accept ‘normal’ marriage.

‘Same-marriage marriage is going to be legalized sooner or later.’ It is Yinhe Li’s expectation for the Chinese society.

So is ours. We hope the day comes sooner than later.

Heritage: hundred and eighteen

Heritage: hundred and nineteen

Photographer Makeup Artist Models Stylist

Ray Chang Agnes Hsieh Yan Feng, Peak Peony Ho, Sanzose Chua

Three thousand years ago, Classic of Poetry, the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, has witnessed the idyllic life and the free spirit of Chinese people. At that time, people have nothing yet everything. People enjoy their life in the nature with the sky as the ceiling and the earth as the floor. From moon to sun, from men to women, from fish to bird, everything is a poem.

Classic of Poetry Garment by Renli Su Jewelery by Yuxi Sun & M. Ren Ishii

It is high time we loved someone spontaneously, learned something patiently and looked at today’s China carefully.

Editor Linzi Zhan Word Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang

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Yet, power, desire and war have disturbed the peace and brought evil, degeneracy and selfishness. Nowadays, after three thousand years, people forget how to trust, how to love and how to enjoy.

The days depicted in Classic of Poetry have been long gone.

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Heritage: hundred and twenty-six

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Spring 2015

Beijing may be the political centre of China and Shanghai may be the economic hub, but the most dynamic city in China, at the moment, is in the capital of Sichuan province – Chengdu. Located in the mountains of Southwest China, Chengdu has been known as the ‘Land of Abundance’ for centuries because of its traditional role as the breadbasket of China. Nowadays, the name could also be used just as accurately to describe its abundance of possibility and opportunity.

Manifesto

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Word Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan

Being one of the fastest growing economies, Chengdu is an integral player in the rise of modern China with about half of Fortune 500 firms already setting up businesses in the city. In keeping with a turbulent 2300 years history, Chengdu finds itself in the throes of significant change. The construction of 30 new skyscrapers and 90 huge commercial complexes promises to radically alter the city skyline.

Slow Life in Chengdu

Heritage: hundred and twenty-eight

Surprisingly, at the same time, Chengdu is the happiest city in the country with more than 14 million people living and thriving in the fertile Chengdu plains. Riffing on the popularity of the region’s largest tourist draw, the giant panda, Chengdu’s residents pride themselves on living ‘the panda life’. The slow-paced lifestyle and laid-back atmosphere in Chengdu have long been known all over the world.

Heritage: hundred and twenty-nine

Spring 2015

Teahouse, Majhong and spicy food almost take up all of local people’s leisure time.

Teahouse is an inseparable part of Chengdu culture. Local people often say that you could see more teahouses than sunny days.

Scattered throughout the city, teahouses are much more than just a place to drink tea. They are a place to meet with old friends, to make new ones and even conduct business.

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Spring 2015

Chengdu people love teahouses mainly because they love chatting over a cup tea and relaxing themselves while having various entertainment activities. Some even go to a teahouse in the morning and spend the day there. Many teahouses offer some performances such as storytelling, Sichuan opera and live music and traveling businessmen also provide services such as massages, ear cleaning and fingernail cutting there.

Teahouses are prosperous since existing in Chengdu.Back in the old days, teahouses also had a function as the civil court, mediating disputes in the neighbours, and as the conference room where different communities and gangs gathered together to negotiate and trade.

One activity that has the magic power of drawing local people to teahouses all the time is Mahjong, a Chinese dominoes game played by four people. Chengdu locals love playing Mahjong, and after work the sounds of Mahjong tiles can be heard clicking all around the city. There is a joking saying in the streets that one can only be either playing Mahjong, or on his way to play Mahjong. It is an ancient game that is easy to learn, but takes a lifetime to master.

Heritage: hundred and thirty

Heritage: hundred and thirty

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Not coincidentally, this is the region of China where you will see more smiles and hear more laughter than anywhere else in the country.

Apart from spending the day in the teahouses chatting and gossiping, and the night playing Mahjong with friends, people in Chengdu also devote hours and hours on the mouth-numbing food and the blood-red hotpot.

Another popular way to have dinner in Chengdu is to do so while taking a walk.

Along the Wide and Narrow Alleys, a special area combining with old and modern elements of the city, and Jinli Old Street, an old-time street quite near Wuhou Temple, can be found many small stands selling local favourites.

There you can appreciate the architectural style of ancient Chengdu, as well as taste plenty of street snacks. People walking along the streets will stop at one stand pick out something, and continue on their walk and then stop at another.

It is a wonderful way to spend the evening.

Sichuan cuisine, one of China’s four most famous food styles, is well-known for its delicious and fiery spiciness. Chengdu locals specially love the spicy flavours and fragrant peppercorns because they could prevent them from the diseases caused by wet weather of the region. Nothing beats the intensity of the Chengdu hotpot, a deep bowl of bubbling, viscous dark red liquid sprinkled with mouth-numbing chillies and potent Sichuan peppercorns. Slices of meat, seafood and vegetables are cooked in this broth then dabbed in crushed garlic and coriander and various sauces before eating.

Heritage: hundred and thirty-two

Heritage: hundred and thirty-three

For tourists, pandas are probably Chengdu’s biggest draw, but for locals, having a relaxing lifestyle like pandas is what they are most proud of. From restful teahouses to splendid temples, Chengdu has retained its reputation for prizing the finer things in life. People here may work as hard as their brethren in China’s frenetic eastern and southern metropolises, but they also make time to while away an afternoon drinking tea, playing Mahjong and chatting over bubbling hotpot.

Spring 2015

Heritage: hundred and thirty-four

Generation.

谷 雨 四 月 二 十 日

宜 忌 求 嗣

求 医

祭 祀

和 讼

恩 赦

行 丧

栽 种

纳 畜

出 行 入 学

盖 屋

开 市

针 灸

嫁 娶

移 徙

安 葬

安 香

动 土

行 求 舟 财

宣 言 — 一 五 七

Spring 2015

Photographer

Spring 2015

750g 200g 100g 100g 500ml 30ml 15ml 10g 15g 2 tbs

2 tbs

1 2 2 2

Leon Wei

Word Yangzi Liang Linzi Zhan

Manifesto

Grandma Tan has lived in the fertile Chengdu plains for almost 70 years.

Cooking has been one of her biggest interests in her whole life and she has been nothing but proud of the spicy and numbing Sichuan cuisine.

grass carps soybean sprouts dried facing heaven chillies Sichuan peppers vegetable oil Sichuan Pixian soybean paste soy sauce ginger slices minced garlic corn starch rice wine egg white star anises cinnamons bay leaves

*some salt, sugar, grounded white pepper, and chili powder.

While cooks all over China are specialists in balancing the five flavours of salty, sour, spicy, sweet, and bitter, Grandma Tan disagrees and she thinks numbing should takes the place of bitter. According to Chinese medicine, if the body becomes internally damp, the body’s yang energy is reduced and the imbalance could cause illness.

So she believes that ingredients like chilli, Sichuan pepper and ginger help keep the body from the damp climate in the region.

1. Prepare the fish. Fillet the fish and cut it into small slices.

Marinate them with rice wine, salt, corn starch and egg white. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Make the five-flavoured oil. Soak Sichuan peppers and dried facing heaven chillies in a bowl of hot boiling water for five minutes. Drain well. Heat up a wok with oil on medium heat. Fry Sichuan peppers, dried facing heaven chillies, star anises, cinnamons and bay leaves chilli until the scent comes out of the mixture and the oil turns red. Take the ingredients out of the oil with a drainer and set them aside. Keep the fiery-red five-flavoured oil at a low heat.

3. Make the chilli stock. Stir fry the Sichuan Pixian soybean paste and then add in the minced garlic, the sliced ginger.

Once the scent is emitted from the stir-frying, add in some rice wine, soy sauce, salt and grounded white pepper. Add the five-flavoured oil and wait for it to be boiled.

4. Add the fish slices. Once the chilli stock is boiling, turn the heat off. Add in the fish slices and make sure they do not stick to one another. Cover the wok for 2-3 minutes.

5. Add the final touch. Chop the fried Sichuan peppers and dried facing heaven chillies from earlier on into small pieces, set aside. Place the soybean sprouts in a large serving bowl.

Pour the fish slices together with the chilli stock into the serving bowl and garnish with your chopped Sichuan peppers, dried chillies and a dash of chilli powder. Quickly heat up some oil in a wok and then pour the hot boiling oil over the surface of the chilli garnishing.

Fish in hot chilli oil, known as, Shuizhuyu in Chinese, is not only one of the most famous dishes of Sichuan cuisine, but also one of Grandma Tan’s specialities that are loved by her grandchildren. Today, she shares with us her secret recipe and tips.

The Fish in hot chilli oil is ready to serve.

Grandma Tan’s Recipe: Generation: hundred and thirty-eight

Boiled Fish in Hot Chili Oil Generation: hundred and thirty-nine

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Manifesto

Facing heaven chilli, known as Chaotianjiao in Chinese, is a cone-shaped, medium-hot chilli pepper, between 3 and 6 cm in length, 1 to 2 cm in diameter at the base, and with very thin skin. It is the pantry staple in Sichuan and its attractive appearance, appetising fragrance and moderately hotness make it a perfect choice for the dish.

The special tickle on the tongue is brought by Sichuan peppers, also referred to as Huajiao in Chinese. Not as hot as other peppers, Sichuan peppers impart a tingling numbness that enriches other fiery tastes. In fact, they are not pepper at all. They are actually the aromatic berries of a tree related to the prickly ash. Dried, their rust-coloured husks open up like blossoms to reveal a tiny seed. Grandma Tan also recommends that wild peppercorns offer a even stronger taste.

It is said that China is the place for food, and Sichuan is the place for flavour. Sichuan peppers and dried facing heaven chillies have contributed much not only to the deliciousness of this dish, but also to the aftertaste of many Sichuan cuisines that lingers on.

Generation: hundred and forty

Generation: hundred and forty-one

Manifesto

Grandma Tan has also left a few tips to make the dish more authentic and flavourful. Although grass carp is the most common fish in China, it could be replaced by silver carp, snakehead, catfish and even sea bass, as long as it is fresh.

The dried chillies and the Sichuan peppers are the most important ingredients in the dish other than the fish, so make sure they are the proper ones.

Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Flowers in the Mirror Editor Word

Linzi Zhan Yangzi Liang, Linzi Zhan

‘Moon in the water, flower in the mirror’ is an old Chinese saying for beautiful illusions. About 200 years ago, in the Qing Dynasty, Ruzhen Li wrote a famous fantasy novel named Flowers in the Mirror to express his rudimentary ideas of feminism.

Manifesto

It was surely an escape from reality to an imaginary state at that time. However, is the equality of women and men still the flower in the mirror in contemporary China?

Photographer Leon Wei tries to use food to immitate the wonderlands depicted in the fantasy novel Flowers in the Mirror.

Generation: hundred and forty-two

Generation: hundred and forty-three

Manifesto

Ao Tang, the hero of the novel, met with interesting people and came across fascinating things while traveling to many strange lands, including the Country of Women, where men are made to dress like woman and stay at home and women wear men’s clothes, own businesses and participate in politics. Breaking the old concept of gender roles, the novel eulogizes women’s talents, fully acknowledges their social status and reinforces the idea that a woman’s capability is not any less than a man’s.

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Generation: hundred and forty-four

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Generation: hundred and forty-six

Generation: hundred and forty-seven

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Generation: page number

Generation: hundred and forty-nine

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Generation: hundred and fifty

Generation: hundred and fifty-one

tbc.