One foundation, two goals

This year, SFW hosted upwards of 100 shows - nearly double the number from two years ago - inside the prominent white tent set up on Taiping Lake at the city's landmark Xintiandi area.

The opening show of the event saw Mickey Mouse celebrate its birthday alongside 15 local designers, including Wang Haizhen and Ban Xiaoxue, who were involved in helping design a special collection that features the Disney character.

On the second day of the event, French luxury fashion house Dior held a showcase of its haute couture collection that was debuted in Paris in January. The fashion house also prepared a special segment especially for the Chinese audience - a 12-piece capsule collection inspired by Chinese folding fans that was created by Dior's artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Two Hong Kong fashion divas, Carina Lau and Rosemund Kwan, also unveiled the latest collections from their own fashion lines.

One of the SFW's biggest partners this year was Chinese e-commerce giant Tmall which hosted four shows that operated under the "see-now-buy-now" model.

Popularized on the global fashion stage about two years ago, this concept refers to how audiences, regardless if they are seated beside the runway or watching the event through a live stream, can instantly purchase fashion items they see on the catwalk via their mobile phones. Delivery of these products would take no longer than a few days, a stark contrast to the conventional process where a piece of clothing debuted at a fashion show could take up to six months to hit the shelves.

xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn