Level 6 Fashion Dissertation

Essay title:What are the obstacles that prevent Chinese designers being able to design for the Western market and can these be overcome by new design methodologies?

Name:Sonic Lam Wai Keung

Student ID:S13180156

Submission date:28/4/2014

AbstractThis article explores the obstacles that prevent Chinese designers from being able to design for the Western market and attempts to generate a new methodology for them as references for design. The methodology would especially give to todays Chinese young designers. In terms of obstacles, I focus on historical influence, marketing strategy and peoples mind-set. The study shows that the isolation policy, wrong market strategy and strong nationalism are obstacles that prevent Chinese designers from designing. For the new methodology, this article shows that Chinese spirit instead of Chinese symbols, removing the old Chinese image, overseas study, participating in international competition, hybrid culture, green fashion and establishing a new identify should be the new methodology for young Chinese designers.1. IntroductionIn the history of fashion, there have been many revolutions. The one that involved Asian countries occurred in the 1980s, when Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo challenged mainstream Western fashion. These three Japanese designers brought an enormous change to Parisian fashion. The introduction of flat pieces and a lose silhouette challenged traditional Western tailoring. Their designs looked remarkably innovative and ignored conventional dressmaking techniques. The Western world was colonized by Japanese black austerity, and Japan became one the leading countries in terms of fashion innovation (Niessen et al., 2003). Since the 1980s, Japanese fashion has developed for about 30 years. As a Chinese student studying in United Kingdom, I can see that fashion designers, fashion students and fashion tutors only trust Japanese design. They consider everything that is perceived to be oriental to be a Japanese design. For example, if I designed a collarless and warped lapel jacket, they would call it a kimono jacket. This shows that Japanese fashion has influenced Western people deeply. After Japanese designers established a concerted national identity in Western fashion for about 30 years, Chinese designers began to find their identity. In 2006, Frankie Xie became the first Chinese designer to present his collection at Paris Fashion Week, and two years later Ma Ke presented her collection at Paris Haute Couture show. Chinese designers started developing fashion 50 years later than Japan, and Chinas fashion is still in its infancy. Some designs still look like a display in a history museum. What are the obstacles that prevent Chinese designers work from becoming contemporary? Damir Doma is a French designer, whose previous work has featured oriental elements some of which are obviously are inspired by Chinese culture. His designs are quite famous in Western markets. After having come to know of this designer, I began to wonder why our culture can only be well presented by Western designers and why we Chinese cannot make such use of our own culture. I believe that the reasons are related to historical influence, incorrect marketing strategy and the concerted mind-set. Throughout history, China has tended to isolate herself from the world. Chinas having kept the door closed to Western countries has meant that it has made a belated start in fashion. After the Cultural Revolution, China became rich and only had eyes for Western luxury brands, but at the same time, counterfeits were also present. During the Cultural Revolution, nationalism was instilled deeply into the Chinese people: they were educated to love China, and fashion designs made wide use of traditional symbols. The emerging Chinese designers, however, are trying to express a new Chinese identity to Westerns. They prefer to interpret Chinese spirit in their designs than to put traditional symbols on their clothes. This generations Chinese designers attempt to remove the old China symbols imprinted in 1980s and 1990s and establish a different Chinese culture in a modern way in the twenty-first century. Will this be the new direction for Chinese designers competition in Western market? This article aims to analyse the obstacles that prevent Chinese designers from designing for the Western market and to generate a new methodology for them as references to design. The methodology is meant especially for todays young Chinese designers.2. MethodologyIn order to find out whether Chinese people support local Chinese brands, I conducted a survey. The survey was conducted in Hong Kong in December 2013, and asked respondents to choose the item they preferred from various pairs of designs, one of which was in a Western and one in a Chinese style. Questionnaires were distributed in two large Hong Kongs design institutes, Hong Kong Design Institute and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. A hundred questionnaires were given to each institute.3. Analysis of the obstacles that prevented Chinese designers from being able to design for the Western marketThere are many reasons why Chinese designers cannot be as successful as Japanese designers in the international market, despite the fact that we are both Asian. This section will analyse the history, marketing strategy, and the Chinese mind-set to identify the primary obstacles.3.1. Historical InfluenceChinese designers cannot get a seat in the international market. This fact is not only caused by a lack of creativity and ability. The extent of fashion design development in China also decides whether designers can emerge from the domestic market or not. Some would argue that if China actually got a talented designer like Yohji Yamamoto, nothing would hinder designers from appearing in the international market. However, such a talented designer is an exception. There have been no stunning new designers from Japan in the last 30 years. A well-developed fashion industry definitely encourages the emergence of new talented designers. The fashion industry does not only involve art and design, but also business and social culture. The history of fashion parallels political and economic history (Wu, 2012). Reviewing the history of the development of a career can help people to identify the reason for its booming and the reason for its failure. In this chapter, I present the history of Chinese fashion from the Han dynasty until the Republic of China.Chinese fashion began with the first trade with the West, during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE220 CE), who traded with the Roman Empire. The Mongols threatened to sack the West during the Yuan Dynasty (12711368). In the Middle Ages, Marco Polo brought the wonders of China to the attention of the West. During the Ming Dynasty (13681644), China exported fine ceramics to the West. Ultimately, however, the Ming destroyed its fleet and opted for isolationism. Under the Qing Dynasty (16441911), the West forcibly opened China to trade and conquest, and the Empire experienced a Century of Humiliation that destroyed the Chinese economy. China had produced approximately 25 percent of the worlds output during the Han and Ming dynasties, but by the early twentieth century this had fallen to 9 percent (Maddison, 2006). Chinas efforts to isolate itself from the world had exacted an enormous cost on the Chinese people. Chinas feudalistic society broke the only connection with Western countries, and the Chinese remained in the ancient situation and have no chance to join the Western activities. This led to the belated start for China fashion.The situation persisted until revolution was proposed in 1912. Dr Sun Yat-sen became President of the Republic of China. Sun was among the first generation of Chinese students who had studied abroad. When he assumed the presidency, he attempted to open China to Western ideas, including Western fashion. Men in the cities began wearing suits, jackets, and trousers instead of the Tang suit. In the first year, Shanghai and Hong Kong especially accepted the change; they enjoyed a good reputation for excellent tailoring. Since the introduction of Western fashion, a mixture had emerged, whereby aspect of Eastern and Western fashion would be fused in a single item. This type of clothing is known as cheongsam or qipao (Linda W. and Arthur C. M., 2012). This was what Western countries knew about Chinese fashion until the twenty-first century, and this is still the image of Chinese fashion in Western countries. However, the door did not remain open to the West for long. In 1949, after two decades of civil war, the situation of the Ming Dynasty occurred again. The communists won the civil war and Mao Zedong, the first Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China, turned China inward, isolating the country like the Ming had done 500 years before. Fashion once again became the victim of a feudalistic society. During Chinas Cultural Revolution (196676), Western fashion was rejected. People were forced to wear bland Mao suits in order to present a united appearance. The Mao suit was actually an outfit comprising jackets and pants worn by Sun Yat-sen, with only slight differences between those for men and those for women. Under this social system, people were brainwashed, there was no individual thinking and absolute obedience to the order was required. Some older people continued to wear the suit after Mao died in 1976. After Maos death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping took control of the Party and reversed many of Maos policies, including isolationism. This marked the true start of Chinese fashion. However, compared with Western countries in the same period, Paris, Milan, London, New York and Japan had already developed as fashion centres (Wu, 2009). Chinese fashion had fallen behind before the competition had even begun. When others Western countries had well-developed fashion industries, Chinese fashion industries had not started to develop. When other Western countries had established their fashion capital countries respectively, Chinese fashion was just an infant industry. The historical influence caused the belated start of fashion in China and the belated start caused the Chinese to know nothing fashion3.2. Wrong Marketing PoliciesUnder Deng Xiaoping, China developed rapidly. Chinas neighbors provided the model for Deng to develop Chinas economy. Deng chose to copy Japan and the Asian Tigers export-led path to growth, which provided a blueprint for sustained economic growth. In the following years, everything in China progressed rapidly, and it appeared that Deng was attempting to chase or overtake the western countries. The pace of Chinas economic growth has been remarkably fast. According to Linda W. and Arthur C. M. (2012), the success of the export-led growth strategy is evident in Chinas Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the first thirty years of Chinas capitalism with Chinese characteristics policy, inflation-adjusted GDP growth averaged about 10 percent, more than three times the world average and fast enough for the economy to double in size about every seven years. The booming economy made China fashion only got the faade but no connotation. In this chapter, we will focus on the mistaken marketing strategies of Chinese fashion and the lack of knowledge of intellectual property in China. One of the common scenes in China are empty supersized mall and imitation international brands. The philosophy behind mall development seems to be: build it and they will come (Linda W. and Arthur C. M., 2012).However, the fact is that only the coastal districts have benefitted from the booming economy, but China on the whole remains a very poor country. On the other hand, markets selling counterfeit goods and imitations are also present. Those marketing policies obstruct the development of local fashion.The success of the export-led growth strategy has made many Chinese rich, as can been seen in the massive development in many cities. It is perhaps not surprising to see many Western and modern style buildings in the city centres, but it is also common that some Western style court can be seen in the rural areas. This phenomenon can be seen in fashion retailing as well. One of the most striking retail scenes in China is the supersized mall. There are a great many supersized malls in Chinas first- and second-tier cities. Whole city blocks are gutted for these giants. The mall development managers put money toward building such giants without thinking. However, many of the malls and high-end stores are empty (Linda W. and Arthur C. M., 2012). Enterprises invest their money in the empty malls rather than supporting Chinese talent. In China, people want to have their own brand; the only thing they want to have is enormous monetary backing, because no support will be given from any parties. In contrast, Western countries enterprises would give enough support. An example of this from a UK supermall, Selfridges, is a programme called Bright Young Things. This is an annual programme run by Selfridges that carefully chooses, develops and promotes emerging talent in the fields of fashion, art, design and cuisine. Each year, fifteen talents was selected for Bright Young Things, and they are given the chance to create their own display in one of the world-famous Oxford Street windows.With over one million people walking past the iconic windows every week, the displays provide an incredible launch-pad for these fledgling designers to showcase their brand vision and creations to the public (Selfridges, 2013). Compared with Western countries, the perspectives of people viewing fashion are totally different: in China, it appears to be seen as a tool to earn money, whereas in the West it is seen as a type of creativity.Almost all fashion labels in these malls are international, and it is very rare for a local Chinese local brand to be found in the malls. Most of the shops in Chinese supersize malls are international brands that want to find a place in the Chinese market, such as Burberry, Gucci, and Tommy Hilfiger (Linda W. and Arthur C. M., 2012). Such international brands are always in a multi-brand companies system that enables global distribution and better control of the market. International luxury brands grouped under the LVMH umbrella, as well as Armani, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Hermes, Cartier, Prada, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana have moved into China in search of the growing middle-class market. They definitely prevent new designers from starting their own brands, and the system makes it extremely hard for new independent designers to enter this highly competitive market. The control of Western enterprises is even more obvious in the most important fashion weeks. Although the space allotted to Chinese designers during the fashion weeks could be read as a way to be recognized, the rising talent from China is also controlled by the well-established Western fashion world (Tiziana and Tim, 2012).The invasion of the international brands has made every Chinese person want to have one brand name product. Despite Chinas rapid growth, China remains a very poor country. Thus, counterfeit or knock-off goods are present in some markets. When people walk thought the markets, they would be asked things such as, Lady, lady, LV, Gucci, Chanel bags or Sir, come to have a look the latest Armani. Some knock-off American or European brands are also present. These knock-off brands names are similar to those of the original ones. In Chinese they are called bang mingpai, which means they pretend famous brands. Erke, a sportswear company the name of which is meant to mimic Nike, has a logo that looks like the swish; Clio Coddles crocodile logo resembles that of Lacoste. Polo Villae brings to mind Ralph Laurens Polo line through its Mongol horseman logo (Linda W. and Arthur C. M., 2012). In Chinese fashion, many Asian tailors and designers have been denied the status of artist, as they are seen to be merely design technicians for international commercial and luxury labels carrying out their manufacturing in China (Tiziana and Tim, 2012). The retail price of sewing a brand name T-shirt is really low-cost. China cannot just rely on the low-cost producer of goods. China cannot capture more of the price if she just relies on being a low-cost production country. Innovation and intellectual property are what China needs to achieve the real profit.3.3. Mind-set InfluenceThe communist-inflected nationalism that took precedence after the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China under Communist Party leadership in 1949 included a prominent anti-bourgeois strain (Guo, 2004; Tao and Jin, 2004; Zheng, 1999). People in China felt that they had been humiliated by the successive military defeats that led to unequal status for Chinese everywhere. The history of defeat made the Chinese reluctant to confront history, which means they cannot learn from a good history and cannot get orientation in the international market. The Chinese were simultaneously anti-bourgeois and also exocentric, in that they would think their local products are not as good as those of the West. In this chapter I provide an analysis of the survey I conducted. The survey identified which of two similar designs, Chinese and Western, respondents preferred. The result of the survey contradict the views of certain scholars.Chinese nationalism is rooted in education. Christine Tsui (2013), who was born at the beginning of the 1970s, claims that the textbooks she read during primary and high school depicted people living in capitalist countries as only have pecuniary interests in each other. Capitalists were depicted as preferring to throw things away than to share them with other people, and, as in Marxist doctrine, it was emphasised that capitalists profit by exploiting labourers. After such information was instilled into the Chinese, the only impression that they had of capitalist countries was that they were a group of cruel people who did not have any of the affections and emotions that normal human beings would have.This propaganda of loving the nation and national traditions conforms exactly to the cognition that is embedded in the minds of the designers through the school system. Patriotism has always been a core theme filtering through the Chinese education system, starting from primary school and through to universities, since the establishment of the Peoples Republic. Wang (2012) supports the same argument and states that nationalism itself was an inspiration for all Chinese who learned to feel that they were humiliated by the successive military defeats that led to unequal status for Chinese everywhere, to extraterritorial privileges for foreign residents within China, and to the increasing dominance of foreign enterprises on Chinese soil. Nationalism was harnessed to anti-imperial and anti-colonial sentiment and was the key to almost all of the political struggles of the 20th century (Wu, 2012). Given that the Chinese are this intensely influenced by nationalism, it may be taken to imply that Chinese would be likely to support local Chinese brands. However, the fact of the matter is the contrary. The survey I conducted asked Chinese respondents to choose between two designs in the same style, one from a Chinese and one from a Western designer. The survey was conducted in Hong Kong in December 2013. Questionnaires were distributed in Hong Kong to two large design institutes, the Hong Kong Design Institute and the Hong Kong polytechnic University. A hundred questionnaires were given to each institute. Interviewees were required to answer ten questions. All the questions provided two pictures showing two garments in the same style but from different designers and asked respondents to choose the one they liked. Respondents were told which garment was from a Chinese designer and which from a Western designer, but the designers names would not be provided. According to the statistics, I separated responses into five categories. People who chose Western designers in 8 to 10 questions were put into group A, in 6 to 8 questions group B, 4 to 6 questions group C, 2 to 4 questions group D, and 0 to 2 questions group E. Group A comprised 76% (152 people), and was the largest group. The following were groups C and B, accounting for 14% (28 people) and 10% (20 people) respectively. No respondents fell into group D. The results shows that, although Chinese designers can make similar designs, Chinese people prefer Western designs to Chinese. This implies that the Chinese do not really support local Chinese brands, although they love their country very much. Chinese still feel that they were humiliated by the successive military defeats that led to unequal status for Chinese everywhere, and that they are hence behind the Western countries in every respect. Christine Tsui (2013 p. 591) claimed that, It would be weird to hear someone like John Galliano say, As an English designer I feel it an honor to work for Dior. But it is highly likely that a Chinese designer would say, As a Chinese designer I feel it an honor to work for Dior, if he or she were in the position to become the chief designer of a classic European or American brand.Compared with Western countries, China does not have an appreciable history for designers to follow. Tiziana and Tim (2012) mentioned that it is difficult to find such a history because of the lack of one, and many designers desist from using things that would explicitly connect their designs with something inherently Chinese. Wang (2012, p.124) expressed a similar sentiment. When he was asked what are the obstacles that prevent Chinese designers from designing for Western countries, he answered: First, one should not care too much about the Chinese aspect. You just need to truthfully express yourself and find you own language from within. And your language could cause others to resonate and to identify a common ground. If you could touch others you would gain respect in return. There is no use to just label a design Chinese.The contradictory mind-set of Chinese is likely to be an obstacle for Chinese designers. They are on the one hand intensively influenced by the education of nationalism, and hence when doing design cannot be objective; on the other hand, they envy Western designs and despise their own designs. The invasion of international brands has made the Chinese only keep eyes on them and ignore their local brands.4. A method for Chinese designersIn light with the obstacles that impede Chinese designers, in this section I generate seven solutions for Chinese designers to address these.4.1. From Chinese Symbols to Chinese SpiritAll Western people know about Chinese symbols are dragons, lanterns, peonies, and ancient palaces or locations in China, and these elements also count as the design element for Chinese fashion. Actually, the conception of national identity in Chinese fashion has developed from the pushing of concrete traditional Chinese symbols to more abstract ideas about the Chinese spirit. Compared with Chinese symbols, Chinese spirit expresses nationalism in a more humble but also more powerful way. According to Christine Tsui (2013), this spirit is distinguished in two particular styles. First, the group of the Zen designers seeks to invoke oriental idea of peacefulness, calm and harmony. Second, the group of modern China designers sources inspiration from contemporary daily life. In the following I provide an introduction of these two styles in order to give a guide for young designers to design.The Zen designers take their orientation from oriental philosophy. Zen designers for the most part advance a spiritual message of peace, calm, simplicity, and harmony through the use of pale and neutral colours, natural fabrics, and simply cut shapes that flow with the body. Ma Ke, the founder of the brand Wuyong, is an example of the practitioners of this school. Ma Ke has claimed that Wuyong is not a fashion label but a platform for her to share her thinking. Wuyong expresses the importance of protecting environment and traditional culture (Ma Ke, 2006). To achieve her philosophy, she opened a studio for Wuyong in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, hired a team of craft workers, and directed that all aspects of the production, from fabric weaving to the final assembly of the clothing, be done by hand. Expressing a sentiment that echoes that of Ma Ke, Japanese designer Issey Miyake stated that: I do not create a fashionable aesthetic. I create a style based on life, nota life for its own sake (cited in Jouve, 1997, p.10). Second, the Modern China designers draw inspiration from the traditions of daily life, ordinary people and tradition culture. An example of such is the brand Zuczug, which is a high-end casual brand aimed at young urban people. The designer Wang Yiyang takes inspiration from the imagination about life and daily life of ordinary people. He employs ordinary people instead of professional fashion models for modelling in both catwalk shows and editorial advertisements. Shanghais Urban Tribe is another example. Begun by Jasmine Mu and Gao Ping, both of Shanghai, they attempt to bring the peaceful lifestyle of the countryside to city. Their slogan is Life Tracing to the Source and their logo evokes Chinas ethnic minority groups. They have two stores in Shanghai where they sell natural fiber clothes, jewelry, and house- wares of their own design plus photographs by one of the founders husbands. Tea is served in a small garden at the Fuxing Lane store. Billed as a boutique, gallery, and teahouse, It is a significant new way to invoke modern Chinese culture.

Chinese designers are moving toward a new identity for Chinese fashion. This new identity is no longer in the form of traditional Chinese symbols, but is instead a conceptual theme that can be defined as spirit, philosophy, and modern culture; nevertheless, it is still about Chinese fashion (Tsui, 2012).4.2. Removing old Chinese symbolsThe well-established identity of Chinese fashion is qipao and some traditional Chinese symbols that Chinese designers favour, such as dragons, lanterns, peonies, and ancient palaces or locations in China. In the 1980s and 1990s, the frequent use of such symbols and elements gave designs a strong Chinese flavour (Tsui, 2012). However, in today's fashion design such design features would be considered antiquated and hackneyed. In order to meet the international market and to make their designs more contemporary, designers attempted to remove such old Chinese symbols. Frankie Xie presented his brand Jefen at Paris Fashion Week in 2006. It was a milestone for the Chinese fashion industry, analogous to the arrival of American and Japanese designers on Paris runways in the 1960s and 70s. Xie stated that symbols such as peonies and qipao would always remain superficial and misunderstood if they were not informed by a real understanding of their cultural context. This appears to demonstrate that Chinese designers were trying to redefine their identity. Xie dedicated his efforts to removing the old images of Chinese fashion from the minds of Western spectators and to replace them with a new form of Chinese culture one that is more than merely qipaos and peonies. Xie at the same time expressed the unshakeable position of Chinese culture in his design, and tried to redefine Chinese culture in the minds of Western audiences.Another example is Ma Ke. Ma Ke brought her collection, themed anti-fashion luxury, to Haute Couture Fashion Week in 2008. The collection included no symbols that would be facilely related to China and invoked the feeling of naturalness and simplicity. Although there are no obvious Chinese symbols shown on her collection, it did not prevent the spectators from feeling its Chinese flavour. Ma Ke instead delivered the oriental philosophy in a more innovative form than by using Chinese symbols (Eco Fashion World, 2008).The recently emerging Chinese designer Haizhen Wang is a third example. The winner of the prestigious 2012 Fashion Fringe, he now bases his brand Haizhen Wang in London. When asked whether he would use some Chinese elements in his collection, he answered that he would not suddenly do so. He thinks that Chinese people are actually the biggest Chinese element, in that there is spirit in our heart that cannot be stolen. Chinese designers do not urge to show their national identity (Alexa, 2012).They all aspired to articulate Chinese culture in their design, while simultaneously trying to remove the qipao and dragon symbols that characterised 1980s and 1990s Chinese design and establish a modern Chinese culture for the twenty-first century.4.3. Oversea StudySouth Koreas and Japans fashion industries developed very well, and this made fashion education much more popular with Asian students. More and more Asian students have been enrolling in major design schools around the world since the 1990s, with an especial prominence in major fashion capitals such as New York, Paris and London. At the Fashion Institute of Technology, almost a quarter of the nearly 1,200 students enrolled in 2010 were either Asian or Asian-American (Wilson, 2010).For Chinese students, studying overseas helps them to develop design skills and exposes them to the international market. Although students educated in foreign countries acquire Western thinking, they still think that China is their root. There are a number of examples of designers educated in Western universities who want to promote Chinese culture:Zhang Huishan, born in the 1980s, studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He paraded his eponymous label at London Fashion Week in February 2013. When interviewed by Vogue in 2012, he stated, I want to promote a contemporary angle of Chinese culture (Adams 2012). Ji Cheng, who trained in an Italian fashion institute, also showed in London in February 2013, and similarly claims to want to deliver an aesthetic of modern China to the international audience (Chung 2012). Masha Ma (also trained at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, who also paraded at London Fashion Week in 2013), stated, Design from China is more focused on the spirit of Chinese culture these years. Some people may think that Chinese designers only emphasize the silhouette. However, concept is not ignored. Design in China is not just expression and accumulation of symbols and details. From the details inside a collection, you will find the image and spirit being interpreted (Cassard 2012).The table below provides a list showing of recently emerged Chinese designers educated in Western countries. It can be used as a reference list for students to research those designers and take them as a guide for their future work.Western-educated Chinese designersInstitutes name

HuishanZhangCentral Saint Martins

Vega Zaishi WangCentral Saint Martins

Yang DuCentral Saint Martins

Qiu HaoCentral Saint Martins

Masha MaCentral Saint Martins

Fei WangCentral Saint Martins

Haizhen WangCentral Saint Martins

Yang LiCentral Saint Martins

Alison Mary Ching YeungKings College Central Saint Martins

Uma WangChina Textile University,Central Saint Martins

Kim KwangCentral Saint Martins,London College of fashion,Instituto Marangoni

Yirantian GuoLondon College of Fashion

Kay KwokLondon College of Fashion

Min WuLondon College of Fashion

Xiao LiRoyal College of Art

Xander Zhou, Studied in Netherlands

Chi Zhang Instituto Marangoni

Jenny Ji Instituto Marangoni

Liu LuParsons School of Design

Access to high-quality and industry-linked education is a key common denominator in the background of these younger designers (Hazel 2012).4.4. Winning International AwardsThere are many talents in China, but with inadequate opportunities and support for young designers, they cannot obtain recognition and promote themselves. By participating in international design competitions, young Chinese designers will get the chance to expose themselves in the international market, and, if they win the competition, would also be given financial support for their products and world-wide promotion. This paragraph provides four examples of Chinese fashion designers who started their brands by winning international competitions and introduce some other internationals competitions for young designers.First, Kay Kwok, a Hong Kong born menswear designer, studied for a Bachelor's degree in womens wear at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, later obtaining a Master's in mens wear from the London College of Fashion in 2012. In the same year, he won the MITTELMODA The Fashion Award 2012. After that, the magazine GQ China sponsor a show of his in the London Collection Men in 2014, an event whose runway shows included heavyweight names such as Alexander McQueen, Paul Smith and Tom Ford.Second is Haizhen Wang. After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2005, he worked in different design houses for five years. In 2010 he established his own womens wear brand, and two years after this he won the Fashion Fringe 2012. The award brought with it six months sponsorship at The Centre for Fashion Enterprise, and sponsored his fashion shows for two years.Third, Min Wu, who was born in China, graduated from London College of Fashion in 2013 with a Masters in womens wear. Wu has gained much success in her short career, including a place in Fashion Scouts internationally acclaimed graduate showcase which took place during London Fashion Week in 2013. For Autumn/Winter 2014, Wu will be presenting her collection with Fashion Scout in London Fashion Week.Fourth, Xiao Li graduated from Royal College of Art in 2013 and won the Diesel Award at ITS 2013. The award consists of a cash prize of 25,000 that the winner can use, without limitations, to promote their work in the best possible way and to invest in their career. In addition, the winner will be offered an internship within the Diesel Creative Team at its HQ in Italy to discover all the secrets of working in a unique, innovative and international fashion environment.Finally, Yang Li is a 24-year-old Central Saint Martins dropout. He was a finalist of the Andam Fashion Award 2013. He has his own brand based in London and has regularly presented at London Fashion Week. He is the only Chinese designer whose productions are sold in the luxury London fashion shop LN-CC.Apart from the above mentioned international competition, there are two other famous competitions, the Hyres Festival and LVMH Prize, both of which are accessible for international students.4.5. Hybrid CultureAccording to Niessen et al. (2003), Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake (whom he calls the big three) made a clear statement that they did not recognize any close connection between their collections and Japanese national culture, and they insisted that their design developed within a popular culture and was inspired by contemporary Western culture as well. The up-and-coming talent Damir Doma present a similar case. Damir Doma is a Parisian fashion label founded by Damir Doma and Paper Rain, whose works are concordantly linked by a sense of uniform, just like costumes (Damir Doma, 2006). When a journalist asked Damir whether his collections are influenced by Chinese culture, he responded that he does not distinguish between what is referred to as Asian or European styles, but that he is trying to mix them up and present in his own way and feels that this works very well in his collections (Ssense, 2012).According to Christine Tsui (2013), today, some young Chinese designers even aim to play with Western culture. Wang Haizhen has stated that his brand aims to reinterpret British tradition (www.haizhenwang.co.uk). From having restrained their use of traditional Chinese symbols to having moved to a position where they reflect a Chinese spirit in a Western form, some young Chinese designers are now even reconstructing Western culture. Such progress demonstrates the growing confidence of Chinese designers with their design skills and their national culture in an international frame.This adoption of Western features only gives the designers works a certain unique flavour, but it cannot subvert them from their deep Chinese roots.4.6. Going Green FashionIn the West, the idea of eco-fashion has caught designers attention. People are paying more attention to environmentally friendly products. Chinese national identity and handicrafts perfectly match the trend. In this section I introduce Chinese eco-friendly fabric and the competition EcoChi Design Award.Mud-coated silks have been used since the fifth century. In recent years, the fabrics have come to be used in the fashion industry again for high-end and luxury textiles. Fashion designers with concrete Chinese cultural roots would more like to use these types of fabrics. These silks are specialty products of Guangdong and enjoy a good reputation due to their purely natural dyeing and processing techniques, as well as their cultural significance. The production process of mud-coated silks is harmless for the environment and is also seasonal, so these fabrics are rare and valuable. This also implies their exclusiveness to China, such as Harris Tweed that is only sold in the United Kingdom. Young designers can talk about this or explore more exclusive Chinese productive to make them distinct in the Western market. (Shu and Kelly, 2012).The EcoChi Design Award is a sustainable fashion design competition. It aims to inspire more emerging fashion designers and students to do eco-friendly design. On each competition cycle, they will take designers on an education and design journey lasting several theory- and design-packed months. First, they educate developers on the negative environmental impact of the fashion industry and sustainable design techniques. Secondly they provide designers with tools (such as lectures, videos, articles, and links) to recommend that they develop their understanding of sustainable fashion. The winner of this award shows their designs in fashion capitals on trips to them (EcoChi, 2011).Eco-fashion is going to be the main trend in fashion design throughout the world, as people come to pay more attention to the pollution created in the production process. As Chinese fabric technique and Chinese thinking match quite well with eco-fashion, Chinese young designers should have a trail on it.4.7. Seeking IdentityThe appearance of the big three in the 1980s produced an enormous change in fashion design, leading to the introduction of flat shapes and loose, body-skimming garments that are the stereotype of Asian designers style. Chinese young designers have found it difficult to establish a new oriental identity in the international market. Thus, seeking a new identity is what today's young Chinese designers want to do, in order to distinguish themselves from Japanese fashion and to overtake it. Wang (2012) argued that Chinese fashion has not established its own style and language. Western markets pay attention to Chinese designers only because they are foreigners in the Western market, not because their designs attract them. But how can Chinese designer establish an acceptable new identity? Hongxing and Parker (2008) suggested that they should endeavour to keep their commercial work separate from their more creative endeavours. Ma Ke did something like this for the 2008 for Paris Haute Couture show, and it has been referred to as a dualistic approach.5. ConclusionTraditional Chinese culture has affected Chinese designers for a long time. Chinese designers favoured using dragons, lanterns, peonies or other such traditional Chinese elements in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, some emerging Chinese designers are trying to remove such outdated Chinese images and want to present a contemporary spiritual Chinese culture. Instead of delivering Chinese culture in an explicit, direct, and exterior form, they have switched to conveying Chinese fashion in a subtle, indirect, and hidden form. This may be the new direction for China fashion. However, it is the very beginning of modern Chinese fashion, so there are very few designers doing so. Chinese fashion still does not even count in the Western market, but I think that of China continues to expand its fashion industry in the coming future, Chinese designers could take a seat in the West or may even lead the fashion trend. Wang (2012) also mentioned that we will follow Japans path to consume international products but not as fast, due to the steep difference in consumption power. Juanjuan Wu (2009) mentions that Chinese fashion designers have come to the forefront of fashion creation and their creativity and authenticity are marking Chinese fashion in the new millennium. Today, Chinese fashion designers creations are as dramatic as European haute couture. Some Western fashion brands such as Damir Doma, Rick Owens and InAisce est. adopt Chinese culture to design and are very famous in the West. I think the Chinese can do better than them in using Chinese culture in fashion design, because Chinese culture is our root, and it cannot be stolen or imitated. China is famous for her manufactories and a large amount of products are made in China. Made in China is a remarkable label, but the emerging designers should be dedicated to change it to created in China and show the West that we Chinese also have innovation and creativity.References: Christine, T. (2013) From Symbols to Spirit: Changing Conceptions of National Identity in Chinese Fashion, Fashion Theory 17(5), 159.Juanjuan, W. (2012) Imagination + Life: Wang Yiyangs Design Core, Fashion Practice 4(1), 124.Bibliography:Adams, Esther. (2012) Back to the Future: Huishan Zhangs Fall Collection Is Rooted in Traditionalism. Paris. Available from http://www. vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/back-to-the-future-huishan-zhangs-fall- collection-is-rooted-in-traditionalism/#1 (Accessed 3 March 2014)Alexa, B. (2012) 10 Minutes With Fashion Fringe-Winning Designer Haizhen Wang, October 24. Available from http://jingdaily.com/10-minutes-with-fashion-fringe-winning-designer-haizhen-wang/21764/ (Accessed 21 March 2014)Cassard, B. B. (2012) Interview: Masha Ma. China. Available from http://jcreport.com/features/fashion-features/2012/12/14/interview-masha-ma/ (Accessed 21 March 2014)Christine, T. (2013) From Symbols to Spirit: Changing Conceptions of National Identity in Chinese Fashion, Fashion Theory 17(5), 579-604.Chung, W. (2012) Ji Cheng at AW12. China. Available from http://chinadesignhub.com/2012/04/ji-cheng-at-aw12/ (Accessed 11 March 2014)Eco Fashion World (2008) Useless-Design by Ma Ke. China. Available from http://www.ecofashionworld.com/Designer-Profile/Useless-Design-by-Ma-Ke.html (Accessed 23 March 2014)EcoChi (2011) EcoChi Mission. Hong Kong. Available from http://www.ecochicdesignaward.com/background/ (Accessed 13 March 2014)Hazel, C. (2012) Chinese Fashion Designers: Questions of Ethnicity and Place in the Twenty-First Century, Fashion Practice 4(1), 41-56.Hongxing, Z. L. P. (2008) China Design Now. London: V&A Publishing.ITS (2013) Diesel Award-ITS. Italy. Available from http://www.itsweb.org/jsp/ en/dieselaward/index.jsp (Accessed 13 March 2014)Jouve, M. (1997) Issey Miyake. New York: Universe.Juanjuan, W. (2012) Imagination + Life: Wang Yiyangs Design Core, Fashion Practice 4(1), 113-126.Linda, W. and Arthur, C. M. (2012) The Future of Chinese Fashion, Fashion Practice 4(1), 13-40.Maddison, A. (2006) World Population, GDP and Per Capita GDP, 12003 AD. Groningen: Groningen Growth and Development Centre.Min W. (2013) About Min Wu. United Kingdom: Available from http://www. 5minwu.com/about.html (Accessed 21 March 2014)Niessen, S., Leshkowich, A. M. and Jones, C. (2003) Re-Orienting Fashion. New York: Oxford International Publisher.Nora C. (2012) London and China Double Stitch: A Sartorial Bond, September 8. Available from http://jingdaily.com/london-and-china-double-stitch-asartorial-bond/ (Accessed 30 March 2014)Robert C. (2013) The Spotlight: Yang Li, December 6. Available from http://www.businessoffashion.com/2012/12/the-spotlight-yang-li.html (Accessed 6 March 2014)

Selfridges (2013) Selfridges' Bright Young Things: Meet the class of 2013. United Kingdom. Available from http://style.selfridges.com/whats-in/selfridges-announces-bright-young-things-2013 (Accessed 21 March 2014)Sense China (2013) Kay Kwoks cosmic Menswear, June 17. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2013/06/17/kay-kwoks-cosmic-menswear/ (Accessed 21 March 2014)Shu, H. L. and Kelly, M. (2012) Dye for Two Tones: The Story of Sustainable Mud-coated Silk, Fashion Practice 4(1), 95-112.Ssense (2012) Meet Damir Dom. Paris. Available from http://www.ssense.com/interview/damir-doma (Accessed 21 March 2014)Tao, D. and Yuanpu J. (2004) Cultural Studies in China. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish.Tiziana, F. R. and Tim, L. (2012) Branding Created in China: TheRise of Chinese Fashion Designers, Fashion Practice 4(1), 71-94.

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Appendix A

QUESTIONAIREThis survey compares Chinese and Western fashion. The following questions show two pictures. One is from a Chinese designer, one is from a Western designer. Pleasure choose the one that you prefer.

1. Picture A is from a Chinese designer, picture B a Westerner. A B A (Yang Li S/S 2013); B (COS S/S 2012)

2. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.A B A (LuLu Liu F/W 2011); B (Vivienne Westwood. S/S 2009)

3. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B= designer.A B A (Xander Zhou F/W 2014); B (J.W. Anderson S/S 2013)

4. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.A B A (Uma Wang S/S 2012); B (InAisce F/W 2011)

5. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.A B A (Kay Kwok S/S 2014) B (Lee Roch A/W 2013)

6. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.A B A (Haizhen Wang F/W 2013); B (Gareth Pugh F/W 2012)

7. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.A B A (Simon Gao F/W 2014); B (Celine Resort 2014)

8. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer.A B A (Qiu Hao S/S 2012); B (Rick Owens A/W 2013)

9. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer. A B A (Ziggy Chen S/S 2012); B (Damir Doma S/S 2010)

10. Picture A = Chinese designer, picture B = Western designer. A B

A (Masha Ma F/W 2010); B (Silent S/S 2010)