Zhang Sifeng: The First Person In Leather Design (Photo)

He is the first person in China's leather design and has pioneered many first in this field. He firmly believes that fashion is not related to age, his attitude is important, and he likes thick and heavy colors. He boldly purchases Italy fashion brand and sells his design to Europe and America.

His name is Zhang Sifeng, a Chinese original designer who likes reading and playing ball games.

Zhang Sifeng, the first man in leather design, changed his fur coat into a pie and improved leather jacket. Before I saw Zhang Sifeng, I had all kinds of conjectures. A man who likes leather should be a bold character, a loud speaker, and a cheerful laugh.

At last, on such a winter afternoon, I met him in Younik, the Bund, 18. He appeared to be a little tired in the early morning, but fortunately, a cup of hot coffee helped us warm up.

Now, when people mention Zhang Sifeng, he always likes to describe him like this. "Leather designer", he said, "maybe leather clothing has been done more, and there have been many changes in this area.

Indeed, although the field of design covers all kinds of fashion and accessories, the most impressive thing is the change of his leather.

As early as in 1998, Zhang Sifeng founded his own leather goods brand. His leather coat is not only very soft, but also can be washed with water, the design is more personalized, even with the seemingly unrelated materials such as knitted, silk and so on.

He explained.

A gray yellow striped trousers, a black shirt, a black woolen coat, a casual dress, he talked too much, and at first I thought it was morning's rush to make him tired. It was not: "a lighter voice is a courtesy, respect for others, and it sounds easier to accept, and the distance is closer."

He laughed and said, "no, it's not loud!"

However, Zhang Sifeng also admitted that such amiability also made him encounter some minor problems in managing his subordinates. "The voice is small, no one is afraid of you!"

He laughed and shook his head slightly. His character made him feel helpless.

People who know Zhang Sifeng know that in design, his choice of materials is very harsh. He said: "materials are the main part of design. Many domestic designers, who design well without good materials, lose to European design."

In this regard, he insisted that the use of leather materials from Italy and China to deal with them in special terms would be unconventional in texture and color.

Moreover, he said: "leather clothing is very environmentally friendly, leather chemical technology is changed to plant extraction, processing technology has also been innovated, and the fur coat has no taste."

Now, not only fur clothing, he also designs many accessories including boots, belts, bags, and tailor clothes for customers. No wonder people will call him the first person in China's leather design.

Zhang Sifeng, who spoke in the West and spoke in a low voice, was surprised. "Fashion is changed."

Zhang Sifeng said that our so-called "seasonal design" was actually designed a year ago. After that, the job was to "change", in addition to the style, but also to dress comfortably.

We often see designers start a spring and summer press conference in the winter of January, and introduce the trend of autumn and winter in the summer of August and September.

"Fashion is not a fashion trend led by several designers. People will feel it every season, whether it is color or element."

In Zhang Sifeng's eyes, "fashion is a natural law!"

His own "rule" theme in 2008 was "heavy color in western regions".

When the fashion season is ready, Zhang Sifeng will ask the question: where to find elements next season?

And this time it was inspired by an exhibition of paintings.

"I see the color of oil paintings, and they give me inspiration, and the painting becomes a skin before my eyes."

This fashion oil painting in Zhang Sifeng's mind is a vast land of western regions.

Thousands of miles of yellow sand, grass and rotten wood, showing a dull tone of color, it seems that this has always been his favorite, Zhang Sifeng laughs that this may be related to character, he has always preferred the heavy color, and rarely use bright or jump color.

In this season, he used mainly grey brown, yellow earth and so on, and his colors met in a low-key fashion. He said: "ash is the rule and dignified is the theme."

He always used to pick up a lot of sheepskin and horse hair, but it was a hit and a wild nomad.

He used a large amount of gold and silver spray process to create a general brush stroke effect on the surface of the material.

Such a personalized fur coat should naturally be worn by individuals, plus a high-end route. Many star models and fashion people are very fond of his fur coat.

In his words, "my stuff is for those who are tired of those big names and want to find something special."

To design his own life, besides being tailored for others, Zhang Sifeng is also very concerned about his clothes.

"Dress is very important. I have some hobbies, but I choose special clothes at work, which is suitable for occasions."

He said, "in fact, there are many designs. First, we should design our own lives."

This can also be seen from fashion. "At the beginning, people are only limited to styles. In fact, lifestyle is also important.

Now people's demands are getting higher and higher. Different occasions need to be expressed in different ways.

And he thought, "as designers, we should play a leading role in it."

Zhang Sifeng said that his current mentality is quite different from that of his youth. "He used to feel that his work was so good, so how did nobody buy it?

They do not understand my design.

Now it won't be that way. In fact, designers should let people understand their own things. People do not understand that you do not do well.

It's like talking about comic dialogue. When you finish laughing at yourself, no one else laughs!

It can also be helped by those days of frustration. "Works can't be sold without money, so they stay at home honestly."

He said that the whole day was 3 years.

At that time, Zhang Sifeng was very contradictory. He read a lot of books. "Reading is the most beneficial thing. Which author wrote books did not take years, decades, or even a lifetime?

I finished reading in 3 days, 3 days to see people's life is the most cost-effective thing, so I looked for different books to see.

Now, in retrospect, he said that contradictions are their own problems and their own mentality is not good.

Later, his career began to pick up. He gradually forgot the book. "Now he is looking at it. It is just too busy to work. It's not as empty as it used to be. It's not like looking at the end of the day from scratch."

Busy, busy. When he was idle, he liked playing basketball very much.

My first reaction was that he laughed and said, "no, basketball is too short!"

Then I added, "I can only play balls, tennis, golf, badminton and so on."

Now Zhang Sifeng is not only a designer, but also an operator. He also bought a well-known fashion company in Italy, so that his design can enter the mainstream of Europe.

From design to business, he described his pformation: "at the beginning, I didn't adapt to it, and then I didn't know when I started to change."

It is also the saying: "how long a man is, what to say and what to do is a rule."

In the eyes of others, Zhang Sifeng was successful, but he himself said, "it is still very elementary, and has just learned to walk."

You can interpret this as a kind of modesty, or it is not a personal description, but a portrayal of the whole Chinese fashion world.

We often use Tengfei to describe the boom of an industry. Obviously, Chinese fashion is still at the stage of run-up. Fortunately, we have seen many designers who work hard like Zhang Sifeng.