Results tagged “fashion”

Our knowledge of fashion extends to figuring out when H&M is having a sale so we've left it up to That's Magazine to shower us with the top 25 you should keep an eye on in the China fashion sphere. While we raised a finely groomed eyebrow at some of their picks (especially the supermodels - really? Unless they've become the Kate Moss/Agyness Deyn's of the Middle Kingdom, we don't see how they're influencing anything), we did also get a good run down of important people, it seems, to know if you can actually pick out a Jimmy Choo from a Manolo Blahnik.

Who's excited to see all your Chinese coworkers suddenly come into work in sensible khakhis and v-neck sweaters? We are! The smart casual staple of the middle-class yuppie, Gap Inc., is finally entering China next year, with hopes that the Chinese will take to Boyfriend pants and striped shirts now that the U.S. domestic market seems to have lost interest. Their China store will be the first new market Gap has entered directly in over a decade and is poised to be "a big opportunity... Chinese consumers love American brands," according to their CEO Glenn Murphy.

And several of the other GFW-themed shirts available at their store.

We're kind of loving the new pictures that are coming out of the various parades that'll be featured on October 1, the 60th Anniversary. We especially love this picture, which shows our ladies of the People's Liberation Army in their crisp powder blue uniforms and kickin' white high heeled boots.

                      

"Ethnic Blossom," a Habesha fashion show featuring designs by Sheilla Constance Sidney, took place at the Xiang Yang Elite Villa on Jianguo West Road Friday night. Sidney was born in Guyana, grew up in Paris, and named her fashion collection "Habesha" after an Ethiopian word meaning "to mix." Sidney's clothing line fuses traditional African and Chinese styles and patterns. Habesha will also be online (nothing there now, the website is still under construction).

You know what else was special about yesterday? After 12 years in the country, Gucci has finally opened a flagship store and it's located in Shanghai, according to Wallpaper magazine. The new flagship takes up two floors in the Golden Eagle Center on Shaanxi Bei Lu and showcases the company's full range of menswear, womenswear and accessories. It joins 28 of its smaller but no less opulent sister stores in China. Wallpaper can't help but throw a comment out about how crazy it is that Gucci's spread out so much in this "communist" country. Funny. We thought jokes about the facade of communism in the PRC were soooo last decade.

American streetwear label Stüssy, famous for its "fresh gear" hip hop-inspired looks, opened their first Chinese flagship store recently on Shaanxi Nan Lu, near Changle Lu. The place is so new that its location has yet to be added to the Stüssy website.

Barring this past week's cold spell, temperatures are slowly beginning to rise here in Shanghai and with that, the amount of people we see walking outside in pajamas have invariably increased as well. But if one Shanghainese bureaucrat has her way, then Public Displays of Pajamas (or PDoP for short) might soon become a thing of the past.

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This may have been obvious to anyone who's ever been at a show at Zhijiang Dream Factory, but Shanghai (and we're assuming greater China) has got an ever growing population of *gasp* hipsters! Exhibit A: M-Style magazine, which has apparently been churning out monthly issues since January 2008.

By Kate Ray

Status Tee, an indie design shop in Beijing, bases a hunk of its t-shirt designs off of Chinese Internet culture. It has now released two shirts commemorating the first sex scandal of the year. The fronts have a character advocating privacy, while the backs feature the now infamous beach photos of the lovely Zhang Ziyi and her fiancée, Vivo Nevo. Oh, the internet is a cruel mistress. Source: 56minus1.

Adam Schokora wonders if face masks have evolved to become fashion statements in the capital with 3RMB masks now sold at just about any subway stop there. Of course, as everyone in Shanghai knows, nobody up there gives a hoot about fashion. We're guessing this has more to do with the recent bird flu scare there.

With Christmas right around the corner, many of you will be looking for gifts for that special princess (or queen) in your life.

SH Mag reports: "The clothes are still made in LA, and so are the wages – staff here receive above the US minimum. ... Small, but packed full of sweatshop-free goodness." And the prices? "Fine jersey T-shirt (¥188); plain tank vest (¥154); knee-high tube socks (¥102); solid rib mod dress (¥307); lamé late night mini skirt (¥328); unisex striped zip hoody (¥461); nylon taffeta jacket (¥553)." We're curious to see how this location performs. Nice looking building, but does anyone actually go there? (Honest question — we've never been.)

Ramadan, Islam's holiest season has just begun, and as Muslims around the world begin a month-long period of prayer and fasting, manufacturers across the Middle East have little reason to smile as they find themselves edged out with increasing numbers of Chinese producers flooding their markets with products that are cheaper and better than their own. Adding salt to injury is the fact that many of these products are symbols of their own cultural and history. Gulf News reports that made-in-China Ramadan lanterns are all the rage now, much to the chagrin of traditional Egyptian craftsmen:

Since walking into the vocation of lantern-making more than 30 years ago, Ahmad Abdul Gafour has been attached to Ramadan.

Continue reading "Chinese manufacturers kill producers of Ramadan lanterns and keffiyeh's in the Mid East"

NBC's US$1 billion deal to become America's official Olympic media for the Beijing 2008 Games was part of a record breaking $2.3 billion deal that included the the 2004 Summer Olympics ($793m) and the 2006 Winter Games ($613m). In what they've called the single most ambitious media project in history, NBC has sent the largest media contingent of about 3,000 to produce a whopping 3,600 hours of coverage. While we were in Beijing last week, we were fortunate enough to catch sight of Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira and Al Roker of The Today Show which broadcasts live from their open air studio on the Olympic Green. This marks the sixth Olympics that the show has travelled to and every evening here at 7pm, the studio attracts an enthusiastic crowd of (mostly) Americans waving flags and banners hoping to say hi to friends and family just waking up back home.

The Wall Street Journal reports that 4.3 million copies of "an etiquette book outlining rules on good manners and foreign customs, including rules about what not to wear" have been distributed to Beijing residents for use during the Olympics. A snippet: "No matter what, never wear too many colors...especially during formal occasions. When you wear [formal shoes], be sure to wear socks in good condition...socks should be a dark color -- never match black leather shoes with white socks. Older women should choose shoes with heels that aren't too high." Let that be a warning to you.

Either that or they look like McDonald's managers circa 1975. Check out pics and commentary here.

UPDATE: As we suspected, Miss Venezuela did win the contest.

      

EastSouthWestNorth has uncovered Zhao Bandi (赵半狄), the man behind the Kung Fu Panda protest, as an unabashed panda lover and a fashion designer who has a line inspired by the national treasure. Check out the images from Zhao's fashion show below. Apparently he got China's internet celeb numero uno Furong Jiejie (芙蓉姐姐) to model for him and that one picture of her is priceless:

A bikini battalion of 1,202 ladies gathered Sunday at the Changlong Water Amusement Park in Guangzhou to form the Olympic rings logo and broke a Guinness world record — not for the largest Olympics logo ever formed with human bodies, but for the largest swimsuit photo shoot ever (previous record was set last year at Bondi Beach by 1,010 ladies). Yet another utterly useless record, you might say, but these girls sure look like they're having a blast!

A month after the tragedy in Sichuan you’d be forgiven for feeling a little compassion fatigue. Whilst the focus of the recovery process has changed from the desperate speed of the first few days, there is still a lot of work to be done repairing damage both physical and emotional.

We agree with PandaPassport that this has gotta be the worst case of child abuse. Ever.

From Patrick Carr of Current TV:

The Burberry factory in Treorchy, Wales, closed down to much protest last year - but what happened after? In this pod we visit the Chinese factory and find that the same has happened again, with Chinese factory workers near the city losing their jobs as cheaper rural factories means the factory has moved again...

As we feel frankly uncomfortable in anything else, Shanghaiist frequently rocks the t-shirt and jeans look. Classic. To that end, eno is one of our favourite shops to head to — with a great range of creative and oh-so-cool clothing, including designs by some of our favourite bands and musicians. So, when they say they're throwing a party we're naturally interested. When they say there'll be live music we get pretty excited. And when they say there'll be free beer and snacks, well... then we have to take a cold shower and sit down for a while.

By Benjamin Cohen

In this latest pod, Patrick Carr from Current TV takes us from Shenzhen to Shanghai and Beijing, and does a commendable job uncovering China's obsession with brands by looking at how affluent Chinese youth today are choosing to express themselves through fashion, nightlife and sports. Features Phil Dorman of Shanghai-based marketing agency Confucius Says.

Fans of tight-fitting non-branded clothing rejoice! Following the much-heralded invasion of H&M and (the slightly less heralded) C&A, dedicated followers of fashion have the arrival of another Western brand to look forward to, after American Apparel announced that they will be hitting the streets of Shanghai in the next month or so. Location details have not yet been released but the chain is currently negotiating a lease for a downtown store in Shanghai, as well as planning to open in Beijing and Suzhou.

Fashion designers in Shanghai are a jiao a dozen. What is rare is a designer with an innovative concept — not copied, borrowed or recycled from a different era.