British Council event showcases design skills

The United Kingdom is known for its creativity, and a recent event, the Great Creator UK Graduate Show 2015 in Beijing, showcased some of its talent.

The event, organized by the British Council, displayed 360 pieces of creativity, ranging from fashion, jewelry and product design to visual art.

The brands being exhibited included Miss Patina, and the Chinese designers who took part included Wang Haizhen and Sun Hefang.

The UK's creative industry was valued at more than 70 billion pounds ($107 billion) in 2014.

It now represents about 12 percent of the national economy and provides almost 200 million jobs in the UK, says Carma Elliot, China director of the British Council, which promotes cultural relations and educational opportunities for the UK.

"That level of creativity in the economy is also something that China is keen on," she says.

"Your government also wants to develop a more balanced economy by driving creativity and creation. There are a lot of the examples in the exhibition of how you translate creativity into growth in industry."

The event also included workshops and master classes directed by industry leaders like shoe designer Jimmy Choo, who shared his experience of building one of the most famous shoe brands in the UK.

"The UK is a mix of many different cultures and people. You get a lot of opportunities to meet them, learn from them and collaborate with them. It was a very special experience for me," Choo says.

Award-winning designer Liu Fei, who has been living in the UK for the past 17 years, says that studying there had taught him how to come up with original ideas, rather than to imitate the classics.

"For me, the words "British-made" are about a standard, a kind of quality, not a physical feature or where it is made."

Qiao Qi, a fashion designer who studied textile design at the London College of Fashion, says one of the key things for Chinese students in the UK is to blend in.

"Chinese people tend to be very shy and nervous at first. But once you start to communicate with the locals, you will find that the British and the Chinese actually have a lot in common."

sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn