Chinese Fashion Memory In The 1980S

In 1979, the picture of Pierre Cardin walking on Chang'an Street became a landmark picture of an era

Pierre Cardin: Open the door of Chinese fashion

"I have been to China 15 times, and I am the first western fashion designer to break into China. Now I have more than 30 projects in China. My favorite thing in my life is to create first!"

Pierre Cardin's friendship for China originates from a tapestry.

In 1976, the China Light Industrial Products Expo was held in Paris, and Pierre Cardin was fascinated by the hand woven tapestry The Great Wall. He spent a lot of money on this tapestry. Since then, Pierre Cardin has begun to enter the Chinese market. At that time, China had not really opened its doors, and Pierre Cardin's idea of entering the Chinese market was constantly "poured cold water" by friends: "China did not latest fashion The Chinese won't give you any money! "

On March 19, 1979, Pierre Cardin led 12 models to hold the first fashion show of New China in the National Culture Palace in Beijing.

On March 19, 1979, as the first European fashion designer to come to China, Pierre Cardin led 12 foreign models to hold the first fashion show of New China in the National Culture Palace in Beijing. The models on the stage are walking in catwalk, and the color of their clothes is very dazzling. The audience under the stage hold their breath, and the colors of their clothes are only black, gray, green and blue.

When the model lifted the coat, the audience was shocked into a wave of people hiding behind. For the first time, Chinese people feel the magic of international fashion. Pierre Cardin has become a symbol of identity for a long time. It can be said that it is the first international brand known by Chinese people.

The Associated Press reporter once took such a picture for Pierre Cardin - Pierre Cardin, wearing a black wool coat, casually wearing a scarf around his neck, with his hands in his pockets, walking on Chang'an Street, the group of workers wearing blue overalls behind him, and the one wearing a liberation cap The old farmers with wrinkled cotton padded jackets looked at Pierre Cardin like aliens... It was a landmark picture of that era.

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In May 1985, Yves Saint Maison de la VANILLELA Maison de la VANILLE urent, who has painted brilliant handwriting for 25 years in the history of world fashion, brought this exhibition to the National Art Museum of China in Beijing after finishing his fashion tour in the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

In May 1985, Yves Saint Maison de la VANILLELA Maison de la VANILLE urent, who has painted brilliant handwriting for 25 years in the history of world fashion, brought this exhibition to the National Art Museum of China in Beijing after finishing his fashion tour in the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

Chinese people, who have not yet been completely liberated from the blue sea of uniform dress, have accidentally started their first contact with fashion and art in the venues where artworks are displayed. The Chinese translation of Yves Saint Laurent is not today's "Saint Laurent", but "Yves Saint Laurent".

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Dummy models without glass cabinets are wearing these exaggerated lines, with wide shoulders and thick belts. Fashion from Paris has impacted the vision of Chinese literary and artistic youth

This exhibition brings his representative works of the past 25 years. Dummy models without glass cabinets wear these exaggerated lines, with wide shoulders and thick belts. Fashion from Paris has impacted the vision of Chinese literary youth.

Clothes and clothes that can only be bought with limited amount of bills in the impression can be displayed on the hall like works of art. In China before 1985, this was unthinkable, and this time, it should also be the first time that China has integrated art and fashion.

The promotional materials of this exhibition are printed with the elegant Chinese translation of his name - "Yves Saint Laurent", which is full of Chinese myths and ink paintings. Unfortunately, this name cannot be used today.

What does the word "fashion" mean to Chinese people? In the 1980s, people may think that this is to buy Pierre Cardin or Montejiao; At the beginning of the 21st century, the term may mean Gucci or Herm è s' bag; In 2008, the word "fashion" is far from being represented by the logos that can be seen all over the street - it includes the culture behind top brands besides consumption, as well as the lifestyle that has been changed.

In 1984, there was a saying in China: "A piece of Pierre Cardin's belt was sold for 1000 yuan in Guangzhou, and a yellow cow on the market was sold for 1000 yuan even with its meat and bones. Of course, you can't be rich if you lead a cow, but if you dare to turn a cow into a belt and tie it around your waist, you will be a real cow."

As one of the first western fashion brands to enter China, Pierre Cardin enjoys the status of fashion missionary. Although she was experiencing an incomprehensible struggle at that time - selling 500 yuan shirts in a city with an average monthly income of tens of yuan, she was not allowed to lower the price even if she died. Fortunately, after a few years of adaptation in the late 1980s, the Shenzhen stock market and real estate boom created China's first group of wealthy consumers. Pierre Cardin and later Mengtegiao, Playboy and other brands are regarded by Chinese as the necessary foreign brands to change their appearance. At this time, China, a mouth watering new market, began to attract the attention of real fashion protagonists.

"If I was determined to come to China at that time, it was a bit too much." In 1991, Zegna became the first brand direct store to enter the Wangfu Hotel. Its president, Paolo Zegna, admitted when attending the "China Europe First Luxury Summit Forum" 17 years later: As early as the 1980s, when he came to this country to find the best wool producing area, Seeing the opening of the first French restaurant, nightclub and bar, his mind flashed. "At that time, I thought that if the Chinese had money to spend, they must first make their clothes better.". This idea was purely based on the instinct of a businessman, so he ignored his friends' obstruction and opened the hotel in 1991.

Zegna's attempt seems full of courage today, because he is the first person to let Chinese people know that a top brand is particular about fabrics and tailoring. Therefore, although the price of a shirt in Zegna was much higher than that of other brands at that time, the business was good. Within a year, they opened another store in Shanghai. Under such circumstances, in the following 1992, Louis Vuitton, a real fashion hero under LVMH, opened her first brand store in mainland China in Wangfu Hotel.

Compared with the enthusiasm and activity of a few years later, China in the early 1990s was just a testing ground for big brands with many doubts. Zegna, LV and other brands have successively come to Beijing, and the first choice is the five-star boutique gallery of Wangfu Hotel. The main reason is that, in addition to the guaranteed consumption capacity, the mystery of minority consumption can also be fully revealed here. For the Chinese people at this time, the top fashion brand is as unattainable as the Wangfu Hotel, and it also attracts people's imagination.

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