“The field of fashion in China today has now opened up as a ground of experimentation and possibility.” So notes Hung Huang—“the Oprah of China”—in her foreword to Fashion China (Thames Hudson), the first major illustrated book on the country’s contemporary fashion scene, out this week with an impish Xiao Wen Ju on its cover.
Written by London-based fashion curator Gemma A. Williams, the anthology features 41 Chinese talents, selected by a four-person panel of tastemakers like model Liu Wen. In the late eighties, Williams writes, “the label ‘Made in China’ became synonymous with low-quality, mass-produced items.” Today, those young designers are subverting that perception—from the Dior atelier–trained Huishan Zhang, whose silk organza qipao now lives at the Victoria Albert Museum, to **Fan Bingbing’**s stylist turned couturier Christopher Bu.
Ahead of next month’s Met Gala exhibition “China: Through the Looking Glass,” we take a look at five Chinese labels with singular style, and their crowd-pleasing clothes you’ll want this fall.
Qiaoran Huang The Look: Think Banksy meets Hanne Gaby Odiele From their studio on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Hupper and Huang have quietly grown a cult following since 2010 with their cheeky streetwear—a logo sweatshirt with Disney script and True Detective style jerseys, as seen about town on the pair’s model-muse, Xiao Wen Ju. Though technically half-Chinese (see: Hupper), the team’s graphic aesthetic is bigger in China than the States—for now. What to expect for fall: A (literal) model offering, styled by Ju and modeled by Tilda Lindstam. Classic grunge cool inspired by eerie interiors, from an eighteenth-century Georgian townhouse to the Overlook Hotel. It’s called the Welcome Home Collection, naturally. Crowd-pleasers: A camo taffeta bomber with exposed quilted lining over a floor-length, tartan silk-chiffon dress and sneakers (above). A slouchy, black, faux astrakhan coat with skintight, over-the-knee boots à la Dior fall 2015. An embroidered Kool-Aid Man sweater with speech bubble: “Oh, Yeaahh!”