CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 30, 2018 Biz Life 9

Fifteen leading Chinese fashion designers join ranks with international brands to design the Mickey Mouse­inspired fashion collection “Mickey The True Original” on March 28, the opening day of Shanghai Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2018. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY BLENDING FASHION, ART FOR A FINE TRADE

“Disney has been respecting people with steady. Most of our stores in first­tier cities MNC Disney encourages passion to make sure their dreams come are directly operated,” she said. Chinese designers to true. By working with the best in the fashion With 20 new brick­and­mortar stores to industry in China, we can create and spark open this year, the brand is expected to integrate Mickey Mouse something that no one can imagine. And move online. It has already opened an through this event, we can attract more e­store on Tmall, an Alibaba­run online into their unique creations designers and communicate with them and marketplace for reputable brands. come up with more results.” “Online stores will give us closer access to By WANG ZHUOQIONG consumers, which can not be usually done [email protected] Fusing culture, business in physical stores.” In the context of consumption, fashion is Huang Qiaoran, who studied at the Par­ Could cartoon character Mickey Mouse considered the biggest driver of young con­ sons School of Design, and created Baby­ inspire a thousand Chinese fashion designs? sumers. Leveraging its long and strong pres­ ghost, a fashion brand, with Joshua Hupper Through its Shanghai Fashion Week Fall/ ence in the fashion world, Disney has in New York seven years ago, redefined Winter 2018, which was held from March 28 collaborated with renowned fashion brands Mickey Mouse with a dated print­media to April 3, The Walt Disney Company, owner globally, including Los Angeles brand advertisement on the New York subway. of such intellectual properties as world­fa­ reg&bone, British brand Preen Line, Chi­ “A Mickey image has been scribbled, mous cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and nese sports brand Anta, and mass fashion washed and torn to relive the old artistic for­ Donald Duck, and operator of Disney theme brand Peacebird. mat of New York subway,” said Huang of her parks like the ones in Shanghai and Hong Besides Mickey Mouse, the company presentation during this fashion show. Kong, has shown that popular art, and art­ owns other brands or franchises like Pixar, “Babyghost is a brand of conflict and inspired fashion, can transcend cultural and Star Wars and Marvel that can be monetized extremity. We bring Mickey to young con­ geographical distinctions. via merchandizing. sumers and hopefully become more visible, At the fashion event, a segment called “We will marry Disney heritage to the thanks to this platform.” “Mickey True Original” attracted much local brands and local culture to create The brand has focused on the Chinese attention. In that segment, the highlight was something that is extraordinary. The whole online fashion and apparel market. Last a bright yellow down jacket resembling the idea is to capture the different subcultures year, on Nov 11, the Singles Day shopping cocoon shape of Mickey Mouse. around China and help spread them around festival, Babyghost saw 70 percent sales It was created by Chen Peng, 27, a Chi­ to enrich them,” he said. growth compared to 11­11 sales of 2016, said nese fashion designer who drew inspira­ Disney’s collaboration with local design­ Huang. tion from the famous cartoon character. ers aims to understand the tastes of con­ The brand is also seeking to expand its Like Chen, other Chinese fashion design­ sumers in various parts of the country. “I directly operated offline stores to engage ers were free to interpret Disney charac­ think localization is one of the key things we more with consumers. ters through their creations. do,” Au­Yeung said. “(We try) to understand “Apparel is a two­way media,” said Huang. “Mickey Mouse gives people joy and inno­ local culture and create something that “It speaks to people who see you and also cence. It also represents love and adventur­ makes sense for local consumers.” talks to yourself to make you become who ous spirit,” said Chen. “Those traits, feelings Chloe Hou, public relations manager of you are.” and emotions are part of ChenPeng brand, Guangzhou­based Ban Xiaoxue, said the The bright yellow down jacket’s designer and inform our design philosophy.” brand has combined the most classic Chi­ Chen Peng, who graduated from the Royal The fashion show was organized to cele­ nese patterns with Mickey Mouse, infusing College of Art in the United Kingdom and brate the 90th “birth” anniversary of Mickey the blend with 3D cuts to create a strong has worked for Christian Dior and Harrods, Mouse. Disney used the occasion to nurture contrast. “We want to adopt Chinese tradi­ is also positive about the domestic fashion the local fashion design segment and to tional elements such as Chinese embroidery market. build a stronger emotional connect with with modern cuts,” said Hou. His design lines, which were created in Chinese millennial consumers. She said the event is a great occasion for 2015 in London, have been exported to near­ Besides Chen Peng, the beneficiaries independent designers to experience the ly 40 shops. ChenPeng the brand has been included Wang Haizhen, Li Wei, Ban Xiaox­ fashion week and evolve in the profession. represented by more than 80 retailers and ue and Han Lulu. Each of them has devel­ “Our brand has received much support from department stores worldwide, up from 30 oped his or her own creative fashion with events like this fashion show since we set up retailers in 2017. Its 2017 sales tripled to 15 Mickey images and elements. our venture in 2014,” said Hou. million yuan ($2.73 million), with about 70 “Mickey Mouse is a household legend, a percent of products sold overseas. popular fashion star and a global icon. His Local brands shine “It’s time to get going in the domestic mar­ adorable look, playful character and opti­ Since then, Ban Xiaoxue has expanded ket,” Chen said of the immense potential in mistic attitude inspire designers from differ­ to a 60­store chain in China. It has the domestic fashion market to maximize its ent creative fields,” said Allen Au­Yeung, expanded to five international markets global exposure and recognition. vice­president of creative, The Walt Disney including Russia, Sweden and Austria, “The strong growth of domestic con­ Company, North Asia. growing its 2017 revenue 60 percent year­ sumption demand and updated fashion It is the first time that Disney has worked on­year. Ban Xiaoxue attributed the rise to tastes have attracted an increasing number with Chinese creative talent for one collec­ its nimble operations and low inventory. of fashion designers and brands to seek tion, he said. “We keep our growth pace slow and opportunities in China,” said Chen. Site bridges local designers, global market

By WANG ZHUOQIONG seeking to bring the latest fashions and col­ lion yuan fund to help local craftsmen and [email protected] lections to its 18 million high­end consumers. designers access global markets with value­ Li Rixue, founder of Secoo, said the added original products. Secoo Holding Limited, which sells global company will continue to discover more Chen Jianhao, CEO of Secoo, said the luxury products and related services online, Chinese local brands and designers to company will provide emerging and inde­ has introduced a designer channel on its enable consumers to experience a quality pendent fashion designers with data on lux­ website, signaling its expansion in a new lifestyle. ury consumption patterns. direction, to bring Chinese elements to the “Chinese consumers born in the 1990s For example, through online interactions global market, and thus support the local have global outlook and global tastes,” said with Secoo’s customers, designers can fashion and design industry. Li. “They understand value and respect orig­ quickly track sales and preferences of con­ It is working with Top100 and OnTime­ inality.” sumers to create better assortment and low­ Show, two designer e­networks backed by Younger consumers show low brand loy­ er inventory. Shanghai Fashion Week, to promote origi­ alty, and less preference for mainstream The Chinese apparel market, valued at nal local designs. brands; they prefer to display their individu­ about 800 billion yuan ($126 billion), has Through its new channel, Secoo has intro­ ality through their choices, creating more seen a surge in young designers. Although Independent local designers pose for a group picture at the inauguration of the collaboration duced more than 200 new and independent demand for Chinese brands, he said. their numbers are still small on a global with Secoo at the Shanghai Fashion Show 2018 PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY fashion designers in China. The aim is to Secoo has collaborated with an increasing scale, they offer fresh perspectives, prompt­ create value­added fashion collections, the number of Chinese traditional brands and ing an update of the entire fashion industry, company said. intangible culture brands including Neilian­ said Chen. markets. Gu Yeli, founder of OnTimeShow, a ucts, to give designers access to a certain set In the past year, Secoo has been trying to sheng to sell the idea of created­in­China to The company expects to set up more brick­ platform for designers, said the collaboration of consumers. “The designer channel is a promote local designers. By signing on more global consumers. and­mortar stores globally to take its Chi­ will offer hundreds of fashion items, includ­ bridge connecting designers, retailers, pro­ than 100 global designers, the company is Last year, the company set up a 200 mil­ nese­created brands to international ing apparel, accessories and lifestyle prod­ fessionals and consumers,” said Gu.