Ningbo: Garment industry enjoys new higher fashion

By Zhao Zihan

Within a very long period, Ningbo garment, especially local men’s wear industry, accumulated a high reputation thanks to its advantages of well-developed foreign trade processing. However, with continuous demand changes from domestic consumer market and variation of the export market environment, Ningbo garment also embarked on a road to depth transformation. Fashion-orientation of the industry has become a key breakthrough during the completion of the above exploration.

As a driving force of Ningbo fashion, China Fashion Alliance has played a vital role in promoting the fashion-orientation of Ningbo garment. Based on the platform of IFFAIR, China Fashion Alliance has been organizing new domestic designers’ catwalk shows for continuous five years, showcasing cutting-edge fashion trends, which has brought sustained positive impact on the local garment industry. This event has become a major part of IFFAIR, and has gradually developed into a highlighted brand during the exhibition.

During the 19th Ningbo International Fashion Fair from October 22nd to 25th, 2015, China Fashion Alliance organized shows of new designers for the 5th time, including 15 designers. 

Wang Miao from China Fashion Alliance introduced that the young designers are active in the front, including the frequenters of Huang Haibin, Zheng Tong, and Zhang Wei, as well as the new comers of JIAMUYANGREXi, Wei Tingting, etc., who brought together the industry’s latest trends and fashion elements in clothing. In addition to the catwalk shows, a display zone was especially designed in the exhibition hall for the designers’ works, to introduce the 15 designers as well as their works in static display and to promote outstanding design talents to Ningbo garment enterprises. (Notes: Among the 15 designers, Wei Tingting, Yang Menghan, and Liu Wenying also published their works in Keqiao, referred to the above article. Therefore, there is no repeat in this article.)

l        Zhang Wei: To purify the soul with “Compendium of Materia Medica”

Cindy Wei Zhang 2016S/S series came from Chinese Ming Dynasty’s great physician medical book “Compendium of Materia Medica”, containing more than 30 sets of works, divided into a large series and a small series of “Paint”.

The implicit philosophy of “Compendium of Materia Medica” was integrated into the language of the apparel. In terms of fabrics, Cindy Wei Zhang kept pace with global fashion and environmental-protection trends, using a kind of skin-friendly silk-like fabric, without loosing a sense of profile or “overclaiming” the wearer’s figure.

l         Zheng Tong: A chess game show

The theme “chess playing”, was closely related to the inspirations of this series, the game of go and Chinese chess. According to Zheng Tong, the theme “chess playing” has inspired him a lot of associations. “The power comes from the heart. Chess playing of human is not about the physical or the possessed arms, but from the powerful innermost being, equivalent to the game of the soul.”

In expression of the design, this series attached great importance to fabric processing and innovation, in the pursuit of simple and practical style.

l         YEN: The color of pottery, the profile of porcelain

YEN 2015 A/W high-end series contained a total of 30 sets of works, with a general theme referred to as “pottery”, inspired by the unique styling elements from Chinese traditional pottery and porcelain. In design, the works of this season adopted the usual profile cutting, presenting a dignified and elegant charm of Chinese women based on the fabric and color. 

This series exhibited many highlights in the aspects of fabrics, technique, color, profile, and design connotation.

l         Huang Haibing: Plain seam, embodying the perfect combination of science & technology and arts & crafts

The theme “plain seam” is given a very detailed explanation: plain refers to the health, environmental protection, clean and free. Seam represents “seamless, no stitches”, reflecting the perfect combination of science & technology and arts & crafts.

The series included a total of 35 sets of works, which were mainly made of natural materials such as cotton, wool, and linen. The tone was mainly black, white, gray and blue. Profile cutting focused on freedom, comfort and simplicity.

l         Cao Yajuan: Wood realm • Origin

Also a total of 30 sets of works, themed on “Wood realm • Origin”, this series presented a unified feature in terms of its overall style. In addition, the design element of each single product also had a lot of correlation between each other. According to Cao Yajuan, the theme this year was of rich content. The show was highlighted in fabrics, processing, color, profile, and design connotation.

l         JIAMUYANGREXI × Shang Wenyu: DEUX GARCSONS

Themed on “DEUX GARCSONS”, a total of 30 sets of works were divided into five complete series: black series, white series, orange series, printing series, and cowboy series.

According to JIAMUYANGREXI × Shang Wenyu, the show tells the story that two big boys who love clothing design make great efforts to realize their dreams. The fabrics were highlighted in the latest two-tone composite fabrics and bright colors. Embroidery and printing, three-dimensional embossed pattern, highlighted the theme. In addition, the color was a major part of the show, and the naughty color stitching was an important design element in the show.

l         Cui Xiaojing: A documentary on anti-collapse

The series themed on “A documentary on anti-collapse” included 30 sets of works, expressing “unforgettable memories and broken coincide”. In order to better express the abstract concepts, the show was divided into four chapters.

Using Japanese fabrics, the series was also featured on its embroidery and dyeing & printing. The embroidery patterns were especially designed and the dyeing and printing were all handmade. The main color still followed the usual tone of white and black; however, there were still some differences in the adding of the gold and red lines respectively in the parts of embroidery and hand painting.

l         Gao Zhengyang & Zhang Yajie: No fraud, no fake

The inspiration came from their original brand UNFAKE: no fraud, no fake, without stealing from others. Originality is the brand concept, while quality is the brand life. Themed on “self constitution”, a total of 32 sets of works were mainly Spring/Summer Collection, together with a number of the designers’ earlier designs.

Some elements popular in recent years were combined in design, such as exaggerated printing as well as the use of zipper and strips, to highlight the younger elements. In terms of fabric, two or more kinds of fabrics were stitched together to achieve a new effect that a strong visual effect will be presented through contrast of different-texture fabrics. In color, the works were mainly of black and white, while some of them were added jumpy colors.

l         Su Jia: RELEASE

The theme “RELEASE”, according to Su Jia, came from the real living conditions of young people, which is too depressed. In fact, “RELEASE” is not only the theme of the show, but also an attitude Su Jia has been sticking to in fashion design. Affected by this concept, his personal fashion brand is also named as RELEASE. Judging from the brand’s philosophy, RELEASE is defined as a life mode: casual appearance hides a lot of ideals and discovery. The prepared 25 – 30 sets of works were of pure natural fabrics.

l         Xu Xiaoyan & Zhao Shuang: “Drunken Flower” and “Liquor Serving”

The men’s wear brand “Auspicious Obien Beast” of traditional Chinese style released its SS2016 collections, including 30 sets of works, divided into “Drunken Flower” and “Liquor Serving” which were inspired by Tang Yin’s “Song of Peach Blossom Cottage”.

In terms of fabrics, exclusive self-creation has always been insisted to guarantee the uniqueness and originality. The published works this year still got inspiration from Chinese traditional clothing in the process and profile, which has always been the brand concept: to design and deconstruct traditional Chinese costumes from the point of contemporary design in fashion-conscious attitude.