Branding the future

Fashion designers embrace a creativity that is gathering global attention.

The fashion design industry in China has been undergoing rapid growth in recent years, and diversified yet distinctive young designers are showing their talent to the world both boldly and liberally.

Since 2013, Lane Crawford, a luxury retailer with a global reach, has supported and nurtured more than 80 young brands. For autumn-winter 2022, it is featuring nine selected Chinese designer brands across the categories of fashion, accessories, beauty and lifestyle.

Its refreshing selection celebrates the originality, imagination, individuality, and self-expression crucial to the spirit of contemporary Chinese design.

The nine brands all carry strong identities among impeccable craftsmanship, boundary-pushing design and contemporary attitude.

Yin, a young semi-fine jewelry brand, hides rich cultural deposits in its collections, such as a gold accessory inspired by the Luban lock, an ancient Chinese architecture technique where pieces of wood are exquisitely crafted to interlock without the use of nails.

Another design takes its inspiration from the "six arts" — rites, music, archery, chariot-racing, calligraphy and mathematics. These were originally referred to the six basic skills in the aristocratic education system of the Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-256 BC).

The brand hopes that ultimately the Chinese designers will present the world with, not simply, a set of symbols or a direct appropriation of intangible cultural heritage, but a redesigned and reinterpreted contemporary aesthetic, complemented by endearing contemporary forms of expression.

Yueqi Qi, a brand established in 2019, draws inspiration from classical romantic love stories, such as Legend of the White Snake and The Butterfly Lovers.