Endorsed(?) Boutiques

Although no longer in existence, I'm still endorsing:


Pop Up Shop was opened by YOUNIK for the 5th Year Anniversary of Bund18, and this store offered something more of a gallery installation of products rather than simply a retail store. Four designers in particular caught my eye, (well, five designers, but the four-sided Birkin from SSWTR was just blogged about) so keep your eyes open for these ones!:

1 - Uma Wang with a collection of wedding dresses called "White Label", that certainly will rival the wedding collections of any other Wang designers.

2 - Coko Wan with a collection of bags, which also transform into clothes! Sorry there aren't any detail or demonstrative shots, but trust me, they are pretty witty!!

3 - Jiang Yi Ru (designer for the brands "COMING" and May J.) with a standout and very characteristic collection (the one in Pop Up Shop was her first collection for retail). I don't know how she manages a menswear AND womenswear label, but they are both very strong, especially considering her age.

4 - Angela Gao, a recent graduate from Parsons and designer extra-ordinaire, with a made-to-order AND ready-to-wear collection. Although currently available in some stores in Shanghai and New York, she also has online retail!

Again, apologies about the poor photo quality, but there will certainly be more coming from these designers soon, so keep checking back for more!

Oh, and for those of you in Shanghai, stop by the Bund18 atrium after March 31st to glimpse a hanging exhibition of Uma's White Label!!

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: