Everything you need to know about Shanghai Fashion Week 2024

Shanghai Fashion Week is rapidly emerging as one of the top fashion weeks across the world. With its comprehensive and eclectic allure, this year's showcase saw impressive fall/winter collections from designers like Dion Lee, Xander Zhou, Samuel Guì Yang, AO Yes, CPlus Series, Jacques Wei, Mark Gong, and others. 

With its inaugural show in 2001, the 2024 edition of Shanghai Fashion Week saw a drop in demand for luxury items, leading to lower sales as the economy was still recovering from a slowdown. However, this season showcased the resolute nature of fashion creatives as they presented a collection of designs adaptive to the conservative economic climate. The theme of the event, Chainborne—implying Chain Sparks New Life—promulgated the synergy of diverse styles within the fashion industry, fostering new fashion movements and encouraging collaboration and innovation in the fashion world.

LE FAME

Le Fame, in collaboration with designer Zhou Zixin, inaugurated the event with a presentation called “Modern Shanghai Trilogy.” Zixin is often lauded for her use of natural materials like bamboo, which add a cultural essence to her designs; she displayed pieces that reflected a modern and eccentric vision infused with elements of Chinese tradition.

Nic Sun, co-founder and designer of Le Fame, curated the Modern Shanghai Trilogy as a time capsule representing the golden era of Shanghai dashion from the 1920s combined with modern Shanghainese womanhood. The collection embodies a perfect balance of ambition and resilience, emotion and intellect, inviting all viewers to reflect within.

The collection was divided into three segments. “Vanity Fair” showcased luxurious fabrics like velvet, cut into elegant halter-neck gowns inspired by the style of Old Shanghai; “Neo-Chinese” presented a contemporary take on traditional Chinese elements; and “Hunting Crush” used pearls and lace to create a romantic feel, with the silhouettes made of Chinese satin. Altogether, these segments offered a collection designed for working women, offering practical and unrestricted fashion options.

Samuel Gui Yang

The New Chinese Style movement allows designers to incorporate traditional styles, creating a unique interpretation of their identity. This movement found a platform at SHFW '24 with designers like Samuel Gui Yang as one of its leading voices, which can be credited to the fact that it presents a symphony of tradition that stands out from the cacophony of Western aesthetics. Yang's presentation showcased a fusion of traditional Chinese style blended with a contemporary wardrobe, reflected through pieces like silk qipaos and denim tang jackets. What was once considered a negative feature in the Chinese market has now become a source of pride, as it celebrates Chinese identity in a confident and modern way. 

DION LEE

Dion Lee, an American-Australian fashion designer, showcased his collections on the 100th floor of the Shanghai Financial Centre. Embarking on a celestial aesthetic, his collection at SHFW showcased futuristic silhouettes with experimental tailoring and star and flame motifs. Lee described the theme by saying, “It's a symbol of creation and destruction,” as his collection revolved around the concept of ‘the flame’.

The collection featured a series of garments embodying different interpretations of the concept. From head-to-toe flamed halter tops and abstract fiery motifs printed on grunge tie-dye dresses, to luxurious faux fur coats resembling actual fireballs, and embossed flames on leather jackets, Lee personified the power and beauty in chaos. The crowd was left feeling curious, startled, and amazed all at once, which is characteristic of a classic Dion Lee fashion show.

Mark Gong

Designer Mark Gong is known to incorporate his personal life into his art. For SHFW, the designer decided to indulge his love for The Sex & The City series, which shaped his teenage years and also served as his muse during reflective evenings. Gong channelled Carrie Bradshaw’s iconic sleepwear, finding his creative space in the realm of luxury and intimacy. His pieces strike a perfect balance between boldness and vulnerability.

Models strutted down the Central Park-themed runway in statement fur coats and lace intimates, bearing further resemblance to the iconic character. They accessorised the outfits with a bottle of wine in one hand, and a suitcase with knickers falling out, in the other. Gong elaborated on the themes of femininity, blending it with his signature bold style, featuring leather jackets, belted accessories, and shoulder-padded suits with sheer tulle, stained pyjamas, and French lace. Drawing on the narratives of ambition, the unwavering support of your friends, and the profound softness found in retrospection, Gong’s collection embodied sophistication with undertones of wit and humour.

SIFAN CHÉN

Chén Sifan's collection was themed “Chaos in Order,” which showcased rationality while delivering unique narratives through each garment. The designers chose a bold red hue as an extension of Barolo (the colour of the season) to unify the collection. Sifan stood out as one of the designers who extended SHFW to menswear, along with Hermes and Xander Zhou, elucidating the concept’s traditional idea of being conformist and binary, aiming to cater to the fashion needs of individual Chinese men with the concept of “You Are You.”

The eponymous menswear label made its debut at the event, launched by Sifan himself to initiate conversations around the reserved side of masculinity. He took it upon himself to highlight and emphasise fluidity by questioning norms through his art and celebrating unleashed freedom from beneath rationality and restraint. The collection comprised formal wear pieces that symbolised order and were designed with normative juxtaposing flaws such as misplaced pockets, bursts of red, and leather belts, so as to break out the façade of formality. 

Hyperoom

Hyperoom is a concept that serves as a catalyst to connect brands with the global fashion market. It provides a comprehensive solution that includes strategic brand development, distribution, and merchandise services; it offers innovative solutions to help creatives stay competitive. During the SHFW, Hyperoom adopted a more inclusive approach by breaking the exclusive nature of the event and extending the space to the general public through a booking system.

Hyperoom came with its staple up-and-coming Hong Kong streetwear label Prix, Chinese brand SONGAADON, and Piet from Brazil, along with South Korean labels Thug Club, Egnarts, Grailz, and Project G/R, as well as London-based designer Juntae Kim. 

Assignments

Ruoyi Hou's womenswear brand, Assignments, which focuses on epitomising craftsmanship and ingenious details, showcased a collection inspired by the ballet “Giselle,” where each piece embodies a poetic notion with an interplay of contrasts between life and death. Hou used transparent and sheer fabrics in combination with her signature pleating techniques, creating a collection that exudes mysticism and charm, embracing inherent femininity.

The Shanghai Fashion Week 2024 Autumn/Winter Collection was a platform for those who wished to explore and showcase their cultural heritage, stories, and personal growth. This week-long event was an amalgamation of tradition and modern fashion, which is sure to have a global impact on the fashion industry, especially the Indian fashion industry, which embodies cultural roots in innumerable ways, inspiring us to create fashion that is experimental, sustainable, and unique.

Lead image credits: @shanghaifashionweek / Instagram

Feature Art: @alesantosqq, @krishgill022, @phiarria / Pinterest

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