Bauhinia Flower In Fashion

　　 Dorian Ho Hongkong's famous designer of evening wear and wedding dress has created many celebrities. Evening dress 。 She has designed dress and wedding dresses for countless female stars, such as Vivian Chow, Sheren Tang, Carol Cheng, Coco Lee, Angie Chiu, etc., and has also designed stage costumes for Sandy Lam's concert. His brand is sold in Lane Crawford (LAC) in Hongkong, Barneys Japan in Tokyo and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, USA.

Q (reporter) & A (He Guozheng)

Q: your brand is so successful because you combine design with business very well. Can you talk about your experience and give some suggestions to other designers?

A: my suggestion is that when developing different markets, we should pay attention to the acceptance ability of the market, and make corresponding changes so that we can not copy the pattern completely. For example, the Middle East is the biggest market for my brand evening dress, where women wear long skirts, and short skirts are naturally unpopular. Therefore, we must keep our style while catering to the market.

Q: over 20 years, what changes do you think the Chinese market will have?

A: I returned to Hongkong in 1993, went abroad for development in 2001, and returned to China International Fashion Week in 2010. After a while, I saw the Chinese market again and found great changes. When we made brand in 1993, our design was very avant-garde and sexy, and many customers could not accept it. But now that consumers are exposed to more international information through the media, their acceptance has increased.

Q: what do you think is the most important quality of a designer?

A: there are principles and persistence, but not too stubborn. Learn to listen and be bold in changing.

Q: How did you find creative inspiration?

A: I like traveling very much. You can see different cultural and artistic backgrounds. Many foreign designers are also using our Oriental elements to integrate their own creations. I also want to use my own design style and way to deduce the charm of different elements.

Q: what kind of designer or brand do you admire?

A:Valentino (Valentino), his design is classic at any time.

Q: how should people wear their own style?

A: every year the trend is dominated by the west, but the world is big, not necessarily everyone. For example, fluorescent colors are popular this year, but yellow skinned Asians are less suitable. The key is to understand yourself, according to temperament, body proportions and other positioning style.

Q: what do you think is the most important fashion item?

A: a nice black jacket. It can hide your shortcomings and make you look thin.

Q: you value environmental protection very much. Act as Designer How do you see the relationship between design and environmental protection?

A: those fast fashion brands are just trendy designs, and fabric quality is often bad. After the one or two season, it will be eliminated. This is not environmentally friendly. Although I am a designer, I have been working with foreign environmental groups. I hope to add green fabrics to my work. This time we cooperate with Asahi Asahi to see that their bingba fabric has the effect of spinning, but it is pure natural.

In Hongkong, there are few women who haven't worn He Guozheng's Dorian Ho dresses. Whenever he tells the clothes of a star, his name will always appear. He is even known as the "star designer". Carol Cheng attended the red carpet and presided over the award of the dress without exception is from the hand of any country, and Vivian Chow, Coco Lee, Daniel Wu's wife Lisa S's wedding dress is also handled by him.

But what is unexpected is that he is not a fashion designer, but a business scientist. The reason for becoming a designer is the Enlightenment of a good friend.

Making fashion from east to West

He Guozheng was born in a sweater manufacturer, a sweater manufacturer of world-class brands Donna Karan and Calvin Klein. As the eldest son, he should be considered to have inherited the family business. However, after returning to the US in Boston University, he chose to start an enterprise with an American designer friend, build Doriano brand, design professional women's clothing and push the mainland market. "Clothing production and design are two different things. In 1993, when I returned to Hongkong, I felt that it was too passive to make a living by taking orders from foreign orders, which made me unable to adapt for a long time. After the idea of entrepreneurship was supported by my family, I went to Guangzhou with my friends.

Doriano's first store opened in Guangzhou. At that time, friends were mainly responsible for design, and he was responsible for marketing. Everything was perfectly matched, and business was running smoothly. In 1993, the franchisee was introduced. By 2000, it already had 50 stores. "At that time, I worked from 7 in the morning until 11 in the evening, which made me learn a lot about fashion design and production. I also have interest in design. Thus, with the help of friends, He Guozheng, who has a high artistic and aesthetic talent, became a designer.

"I liked beautiful things when I was young, and at that time my wish was to become an interior designer. When I was in school in the United States, I earned money by photography. So, it's not difficult for me to design. " With his own design strength, He Guozheng successfully entered the western style evening dress market firmly controlled by the west, so that Asia has a charming evening dress which is one of the brightest eyes.

Like many Chinese designers, under the western culture and culture, the design of he Guo is dominated by Western elements, advocating the feminine style of fashion and elegance. However, as a Chinese, he has been influenced by the local culture of Hongkong since childhood, and his ideas still have an indelible Eastern sentiment. In the collision and fusion of these two, he created his own fashion kingdom and interpreted the interpretation of beauty in his own way. "In fact, the world is already integrated, and should not be further divided into eastern and Western cultures, and different cultures have been communicating, communicating and changing each other."

He Guozheng has finished his 41 birthday and has worked in the garment industry for more than 20 years, but he still does not want to relax. "Designers remain young to have good works. Mature, mature works, but young minds, works will have vitality, there will be more customers. If I have more opportunities to communicate with young people, I will remain young. "

A successful designer is a businessman.

He Guozheng not only has rich and exquisite design inspiration, but also has the habit of rational thinking. He made a bold decision out of the consideration of the market environment. In 2001, He Guozheng launched his own advanced evening dress brand Dorian Ho Collection in Australia and New York fashion week. Then it launched its own wedding dress series Dorian Ho Bridal. From then on, we began to fight overseas markets.

"This is due to the consideration of brand marketing strategy. Many Asians have the mentality of worshipping the ocean. First, they should open up overseas markets and then fight to the domestic market. The brand is easier to promote. When many independent designers were unable to promote brand promotion, he's business thinking mode made his brand develop smoothly.

In 2002, he quickly returned in a strange way - his design was introduced back to Hongkong by Lane Crawford (LAC) in Australia. Even now, Dorian Ho Collection has been born for 11 years, and many people still order through Paris and New York.

The success of the brand didn't stop him. His two brands of Dorian Ho Collection and Dorian Ho Bridal are all in the age of 25~40. However, he expands customer coverage from age and gender by constantly adding new product lines.

This year may be the busiest year of ho. Just finished the publicity campaign of children's clothing series Baby Doll launched last year. This year, he launched the girls' series Doll and men's wear brand Dorian Ho Homme and the joint jewelry brand. The new product line was immediately recognized by customers. At the fashion show held in Shanghai in April this year, Coco Lee, a friend singer of Ho Guo's first model, appeared on the Queen's styling. She said that the dress she wore when she was married was the design of Guo Guo, but she even liked He Guozheng's "BB shirt" more.

Star customers' "blessing" is no doubt why China's business is icing on the cake. What brought more changes was that he made a successful customization with the success of the clothing brand.

Make clothes, love customization

At the end of 2002, stationed in Hongkong Lane Crawford (link Crawford) became an important turning point in his career. The number of customers began to soar and became a famous designer in Hongkong. At that time, many celebrities and celebrities in Hongkong came to him to make their dresses.

There is pressure as well as workload. He Guozheng said: "making advanced customization will be more stressful. When I used to make garments, the styles I designed were relatively simple, because most people would look good on them. It can be customized differently. Everyone's body and temperament are different. Moreover, customers are relying on my eyes to come to me. Besides, celebrities and celebrities are the majority, and the pressure is even greater. " He said that the most difficult thing to do in advanced customization is not in design, but in how to communicate with customers and communicate with them. However, when he was at school, he learned some psychological knowledge, which made it easier for him to see the inner thoughts of customers.

To make He Guozheng customize, it costs HK $3000 to meet first. He Guozheng explained: "because this is the most difficult and crucial link. Although it is a chat, it requires a high degree of mental concentration. Communication is good, design will be much simpler. "

He thinks that doing advanced customization is a fun thing. We can meet different people and meet different needs in design. Finally, we must accept everyone's eyes inspection and have great challenges. The most impressive collaboration he made was stage costumes for Sandy Lam's concert in 2004. "The Sandy Lam people are very easy-going, graceful and polite, but her requirements are very high, and they have their own persistence and ideas. Like me, they are typical Taurus characters." At first, the cooperation was very smooth, but the two men quarrel because of a suit of clothes. Because the concert was orchestrated by the orchestra, so he took the overall style of dress as dignified and gorgeous, but Sandy Lam insisted on doing a set of elegant and rock flavor and dancers. He Guozheng thought it was totally out of touch with the overall style. In the end, the two men gave each concession, and the result was satisfactory. Carol Cheng is one of the important long-term clients of he Guo. "Her demands are exceptionally high, especially for cutting. I was very nervous when I first heard about working with her, but now we are already very good friends.

He Guozheng said that it is precisely because of high demands that these people can achieve today's success. But is it not true for him? He Guo, who is praised as "the star designer" by Hongkong media, still puts his evening dress brand in the first place. He said it's interesting to make advanced customization, but making a high-end customization brand is just a matter of wasting energy and requiring a lot of money. So he does not plan to open up this market at present. Instead, he should concentrate on running several series of garment brands.

This is a man who works hard and is also a man who is doomed to succeed. His designs appeal to celebrities, and he himself becomes the designer's star.