2016年CRI Young Chinese Fashion Designers to Take Over?

 

With the theme of "time", Li Xiao's runway show at the China Fashion Week was crowded with fans, buyers, and designers.

Just one month ago, this 20-something designer added another big tag to her profile by presenting the closing show for the London Fashion Week.

Li Xiao won the 2015 "Mercedes-Benz China Designer Award". According to Nicolas Speeks, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz China this is an award set to nurture¹ talented young Chinese designers.

"The Mercedes-Benz China Designer Award is designed to give those talents a platform, upon which they can build. We give them an opportunity to go up or go to major international fashion shows and show us what they can do. We've done it five times and Li Xiao is the latest."

In the past few years, many young Chinese fashion designers, like Li Xiao, have made increasing presence in the international fashion industry and won recognition both home and abroad.

Li attributes this change primarily to China's economic growth.

"Fashion is closely related to the quality of life. When the quality of life and cultural atmosphere reach a certain level, you'll see the appearance of good designers, just as what's happening in China at the moment. There are many young and good designers."

The potential of the China's fashion market has also drawn² attention from the e-commerce industry.

JD.com,one of China's biggest online B2C retailers³, is planning to establish a platform of independent fashion designers. Last year, the company sponsored a few young Chinese designers to present runway shows at the Milan Fashion Week. Earlier this year, it presented a few others at the New York Fashion Week.

Alicia Lee is among them.

"We've been approached by JD.com for quite some time, as the company sees our potential. This project was our first time cooperation and it was quite successful."

China Fashion Week itself has also launched a nurturing⁴ program – "10+3 SHOWROOM", by inviting⁵ ten young Chinese fashion designers and three accessory designers each time to showcase their newest collection.

With such programs, a young generation of Chinese designers are making an impression to the industry both home and abroad.

At the moment, China's fashion industry is likely to undergo a reshuffle. Traditional fashion brands are challenged by the lack of unique designs, while independent designer brands, with their innovation, are on a rise.

In designer Alicia Lee's opinion, the best way for both sides is to work together.

"Commercial brands, by finding good designers, develop their own design genes⁶ and essence of the brand. Or, designers, by working with commercial brands or finding capital, can explore a way of commercialization."

Eyeing the domestic or international markets, these young Chinese designers all believe that it's now time for them to shine.

For CRI, I'm Xu Weiyi.

1 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

5 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

6 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪