Shanghai Fashion? Week

I hope the government doesn't crack down on me for knocking their attempts at a fashion week, but I have to say that it was, well, just bad.

The most recent Shanghai Fashion Week was the first time I experienced it, and it will most likely be my last for a few seasons until I find the value in attending again. The first problem was the music... It was SO loud and über Zoolander, but I don't think there was any irony in it.

I was only able to attend a few shows because of work, but I could summarize the entire event by noting that one designer's collection looked like 20 different collections and another one used her samples from last season to present this season... I mean, Shanghai is certainly the front-runner for the fashion capital on the Mainland, but I don't think I can use the word "designer" to describe 95% of the names at Shanghai Fashion Week. These are the people to continue to stigmatize the idea of "Made in China" to 外国人, or foreigners like myself.

The good news is that there is some home-grown talent amongst all of those weeds. Most of these designers don't bother with fashion week, like the incredible Uma Wang (www.umawang.com). However, some designers see the advantage of the visibility that Fashion Week can afford a young star, and one such up-and-comer is designer Jiang Ling for "COMING". The name is silly because no one will ever be able to Google her, but perhaps Baidu will work soon. For now, you can take a peek at her collection here:

From Clothing to Fashion to Style

The fastest way I can explain the differences amongst these three words, or concepts, is that clothing is the most basic form and style is the most advanced.

Clothing in theory only existed when pieces of clothing were used strictly for the function of modesty or protection (depending on whether or not your viewpoint is religious). Today, since each piece of clothing is loaded with signifiers and connotations and meaning, no person uses "clothing." For everyone dressing in today's world, clothing is fashion, but there are those that have progressed to practicing style.

The largest percentage of style-practicing citizens are from the West (where exactly, that can be debated), but I would argue that China is perhaps at one of the lowest percentages in terms of population that practices style.

This is for a couple of reasons. One is because sartorial practices are based mainly on imitation of Western fashion. Imitation is certainly part of fashion, but individuality is key in practicing style. The organic growth of fashion into the mature form of style is hampered by large Western fashion brands, whose voyeuristic imagery have helped fuel the trend of imitation instead of individualization... although unattainable by many because of high prices, it still serves as a homogenizing form for China's richest. And for the rest of the population, fashion arbitration and dissemination comes from a foreign source, meaning that China can only truly develop style once it adapts, as opposed to adopts, cultural materials like fashion.