Showcase at popular shopping venue targets visiting buyers
United Kingdom shopping outlet Bicester Village is showcasing the work of 10 Chinese designers over Spring Festival at a pop-up boutique curated by influential fashion writer Susie Lau.
Lau, who is also known as Susie Bubble, selected pieces from well-known designers like Huishan Zhang and up-and-comers like Mukzin for the boutique which is open until Feb 17.
"We asked Susie to bring the new voices of Chinese fashion," said John Durnin, business director at Bicester Village. "What Susie has done is harnessed the energy, the dynamism and creativity of what the country has to offer."
Lau - who was born in London to Chinese parents - is the founder of Style Bubble, one of the most widely-read blogs in fashion.
She says that there is a new wave of Chinese designers who are having an increasing impact abroad.
"This has been a real passion project for me," said Lau. "Chinese designers are having a real moment. There is a depth of talent among Chinese designers - not just those in China but also designers based elsewhere, in New York, London and Paris."
Zhang - a designer from Qingdao who cut his teeth at London's Central Saint Martin's fashion school - is perhaps the most established designer at the pop-up, where his evening wear is on display. Zhang is a winner of the Fashion Trust Award from the British Fashion Council and was named among the world's 500 most influential fashion figures by industry analyst Business of Fashion.
Lau also included work from emerging designers that she discovered at various trade shows in China and on social media.
"Some of the designers I've only gotten to know over the last year," Lau said. "I immediately gravitated towards I Am Chen, whose work is so 'me', as well as the minimal, grungier pieces from Yang Li."
The boutique features work from Xu Zhi and Snow Xue Gao, who are both past finalists for the LVMH Prize, an award given each year to the world's best young designers. The pop-up also showcases collections from Chinese designers Ryan Lo, Anais Jourden, Marie Yat, and Matter Matter.
"The most interesting part for me was finding an aesthetic breadth," said Lau. "I didn't want to just pick out designers whose work was ostensibly Chinese-looking. I really wanted to show that Chinese fashion is wide-ranging, deep, nuanced and spans different tastes and genres."
Bicester Village is a sprawling shopping center located 100 kilometers northwest of London, in Oxfordshire. The outlet draws over 6 million shoppers each year to its collection of 160 stores. Visitors are lured by the promise of discounted items from popular luxury brands like Gucci, Prada and Burberry.
Due to hefty mark ups, such brands can be close to 50 percent more expensive in China, so Bicester Village is extremely popular with visiting shoppers. The outlet is the second most visited British destination among Chinese tourists, behind Buckingham Palace.
Lau said the pop-up provides an opportunity for Chinese designers to stand alongside the heavy-weights of European and United States luxury fashion.
"For some of these Chinese designers this is their first retail presence in the UK, so it's great that Bicester Village is acting as a place of discovery," said Lau.
Value Retail, which owns Bicester Village, is putting on similar events and promotions to mark Spring Festival at its nine additional outlets across Europe and its two villages in China.
