Beginning in New York, global fashion week season is upon us next week. Soon, the world’s top fashionistas will be flocking from New York to London, Milan, and Paris to attend a dizzying array of runway shows in each style capital. Although still a minority at these top global four, an elite group of Chinese designers continue to establish their names as they rack up awards, buyers, and media coverage every with every season. Following the major Europe and North America fashion weeks will be those in Asia, when a huge group of aspiring designers will convey the depth of design talent found in China. In preparation for the start of the world’s major fashion weeks, we’ve created a chronological guide outlining when you can check out each Chinese designer.
HANG
New York, February 8
Hong Kong-born designer Mim Mak will be presenting her label HANG as part of the prestigious Asia Fashion Collection (AFC), a project to support designers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. Educated at the Kwun Tong Vocational Traning Centre and trained at Alternatif, Mim’s debut collection for HANG won the top award at Hong Kong Fashion Week in 2012. Her label has been sold at Lane-Crawford owned boutique Joyce, and may be picked up by more retailers now that she’s gaining global notoriety.
Vivienne Tam
New York, February 9
While many of the other names on the list feature young, up-and-coming designers, this established designer continues to use elements of Chinese culture in her collections. This year, her innovative use of WeChat to promote her New York Fashion Week show demonstrates the growing importance of the Chinese market at the world’s top fashion weeks.
Haizhen Wang
London, February 14
Wang, a Fashion Fringe Award winner, is emerging as an established global designer after several seasons of runway shows at London Fashion Week. In an interview with Jing Daily last year, the young designer stated that he’s no longer in his “experimental” stage, and ready for the world to see “the true me” through his collections.
Huishan Zhang
London, February 17
In October, the China-born, London-based designer won the prestigious Dorchester Collection Fashion prize, which gave him £25,000 and industry mentorship as he develops his quickly rising label. Now that he’s presented at London Fashion Week and has been picked up by Barney’s, the Central Saint Martin graduate and former Dior apprentice has big things in store.
Simon Gao
London, February 18
After debuting his SIMONGAO label in Beijing in 2012, the designer has been making its mark on both the China and global fashion scenes. In addition to presenting his couture collection at Paris Fashion Week in 2013, his imperial-chic designs generated a great deal of buzz at Beijing Fashion Week for his S/S 2014 collection. With pieces featured at Galeries Lafayette, the award-winning designer’s new label is likely to gain even more global notoriety after his London Fashion Week runway show.
Uma Wang
Milan, February 22
Wang launched her eponymous label in 2005 and rose to fame through the Shanghai fashion scene, Selected by Swatch for a designer collaboration after winning the Audi Progressive Designer Award in 2011, she made her Milan runway debut in September 2013.
Yang Li
Paris, February 26
The Beijing-born rising star will be showing his sixth collection at the upcoming Paris Fashion Week. Educated at the prestigious Central Saint Martins in London (Where most recent Chinese fashion week presenters studied, including Haizhen Wang, Huishan Zhang, Uma Wang, and Masha Ma), the designer trained at Raf Simons before launching his line. The designer’s looked have been stocked at 10 Corso Como in Seoul and Blake in Chicago, as well as French boutique owner Maria Luisa Poumaillou’s new Parisian concept store in Shanghai.
Masha Ma
Paris, March 5
Masha Ma has had a busy year: in addition to presenting at Paris Fashion Week, where she teamed up with graphic designer Neville Brody for her latest collection, she was flown to New York by the Council of Fashion Designers of American for its U.S.-China fashion exchange program.