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Which designers are driving forward the sustainability agenda in fashion today? Several may come to mind — but not many are likely to be Chinese. A new exhibition led by the organisers of Shanghai Fashion Week hopes to change that.
Design to Wonderland, which launched in the heart of London’s Chinatown during fashion week and runs until 29 September, includes 10 products presented under the umbrella of Ulio, Shanghai Fashion Week’s sustainability platform. Among them is a boxy trouser suit by Raxxy, whose modular designs aim to give garments a longer life; a corset dress by Sanspeng, which uses deadstock from companies such as LVMH; and a wrap dress from Nan Knits, which also uses deadstock.
“Chinese fashion designers have seldom received significant international attention for sustainability. But their ideas and expressions are very innovative, emotional and practical,” says Lv Xiaolei, secretary general of Shanghai Fashion Week, who flew to London for the first time in four years for the event.
Sustainable fashion advocate Christina Dean says she’s seen a steep increase in the number of designers from China that are experimenting with recycling or upcycling materials. “It’s gone beyond using organic or sustainable raw materials, into creating their own fabrics for the base of their narrative,” she observes. She puts it down to a pursuit of something that’s “purposeful and different”.
Today’s shoppers in China desire products that are “beautiful as well as sustainable” and are starting to understand and appreciate the need for longevity in fashion, says consultant and Ulio curator Dan Cui. Through his company CanU, Cui has collaborated with luxury brands including Kering, Balenciaga, Dior and Burberry on archive projects, tapping into the growing demand for iconic, timeless products.
Included in the Ulio display is a reworked version of a traditional Chinese qipao dress from London-based LVMH Prize nominee Samuel Guì Yang, constructed from fabrics sourced at a secondhand market in London’s Notting Hill. The founder is philosophical about a swing towards ethical consumption. “The market forecast tells us that people, including my consumer base, are much more conscious about what they are paying for. They are looking for things that have a true value — beyond price tag or brand name,” he says.
Sustainability as a route to wellbeing
When it comes to marketing sustainability in China — where some consumers are only just getting their heads around the idea — brands should move away from talking about the technical and manufacturing aspects towards a more integrated message, says Yang. “The market has a new way of bridging opinion — connecting [sustainability] to heritage and culture. What you drink, wear, etc — it all connects to your wellbeing.” Yang’s brand aims to do this by creating timeless silhouettes that emphasise product longevity, while telling a story around the emotion of his design.
Yang points to one of the beauty brands featured in the Design to Wonderland exhibition, Herbeast, as another example of this ethos. Herbeast, which was founded by Yisa He in 2020, positions itself as a new business paradigm for inclusive and sustainable social change. It supports fair trade, education, open source design and technology sharing through a fund established with the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation.
Chinese consumers are generally more interested in products that are better for their personal health and less focused on environmental protection,” says He. “When it comes to understanding sustainable lifestyles, Chinese consumers are more pragmatic than in the West. We’re not purist environmentalists or activists.”
This sentiment is echoed in a 2023 white paper by financial media group CBN on Sustainable Consumption in China, which found that Chinese consumers associate sustainability with “security and the longing for a better era”. Sustainability advocate Dean echoes this, adding she has seen “a longing in China for greater transparency in materials” and a yearning for “provenance, understanding and education around how products are made”.
Herbeast’s He started her career at L’Oréal and worked as a product manager for 10 years in France before moving back to China. She observes two trends in China, driven by deflation: consumers are either downgrading to cheaper products, or moving further up the pricing pyramid. This presents a challenge for those brands positioned in the middle, including those with strong sustainability values.
“At this challenging time, and as [digital marketing] fees get more expensive, brands need to make stronger efforts to retain and bond their community. You need to put people at the centre of your sustainable approach in China. Not only in the sense of nature but in the cultural sense,” she advises.
When done well, Chinese consumers will pay a premium for brands with a culture-led green manifesto, experts say. But, these consumers have high expectations — brands that combine cultural value with product longevity and a focus on community are more likely to succeed.
Cui says all of this presents an opportunity for global brands: “Brands need to invest more in communicating sustainability [in China]. They have the power to bring this issue into the real world. If they can do this, for example in their stores, it will have a big impact.”
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