Vogue’s Forces of Fashion Conference Decamps to Shanghai for the First Time
For the first time since its inception in 2017, Vogue’s annual Forces of Fashion conference expanded to Shanghai. The three-day inaugural edition, put together by Vogue China, was a first for the publication as it continues to grow its footprint beyond the pages of the magazine. It comes at a time when China’s fashion industry is primed for a global expansion after a year of lockdowns and following a buzzy Shanghai Fashion Week featuring a host of burgeoning local designers and international guests including Stella McCartney. That “Vogue Forces of Fashion” was the number one trending topic in the country online on opening night signals the excitement around the first-of-its-kind event.
“So many of the cultural initiatives we have been building at Vogue China over the past two years to empower Chinese creativity across all disciplines—the Vogue China Fashion Fund, our traditional Chinese Craftsmanship project, VOGUEfilm in support of Chinese women in film, PhotoVOGUE, Vogue Open Casting—all manifested in Forces of Fashion’s maiden voyage in Shanghai,” said Margaret Zhang, the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue China. “I was so proud to see the local fashion community come together to really celebrate Chinese talent, and the enthusiasm of our Vogue audience who came from around the country to immerse themselves in Vogue’s universe.”
This past October, the New York edition of Forces of Fashion saw Vogue welcome guests into its home, opening the magazine’s offices at One World Trade Center to pull back the curtains and show what it takes to create the content our community engages with every day. In Shanghai, Zhang and her team built Forces of Fashion to foster conversations between designers, editors, and their readers.
The kick-off event was an invite-only runway presentation of the Vogue China Fashion Fund finalists, who presented their work on models from the glossy’s edition of Vogue Open Casting. Winners were announced immediately after the show. “The event made me proud to be a Chinese designer,” said Zhong Zixin, the winner of the Fund’s Chinese Designer Prize. “Vogue has created the perfect moment for us to be seen by the world. I’m really glad to receive the first award since Vogue Fashion Fund debuted in China,” the designer continued, adding that the most valuable lesson from the experience was the clarity it gave her about her work and what her brand stands for. Zixin took home 1 million Chinese Yuan, around $140,000, while Kong Yue, the winner of the Student Programme, received around $14,000.
.jpg)