Can Chinese Culture Blend With Western Street Trends

Street trend is undoubtedly the main theme of the current fashion. When people are chanting the slogan of "national tide rising", they do not know that many domestic fashion items still have western elements such as skateboarding and rap. Just imagine what it would be like to make shoes in the Chinese way? SHANGXIA, the most Chinese brand, has recently tried to answer this question.

In an exclusive interview with vogue business in China, Jiang Qiong Er Xin, the chief executive officer and creative director of "SHANGXIA", firmly said that 5000 years of Chinese culture can coexist with the coolest trends. "It is my mission to combine the trend with the Chinese cultural heritage, and make China style known and liked by Chinese people and influence the whole world again."

In order to explore the integration of fashion and Chinese culture, SHANGXIA has launched a series of fashion items, including sneakers, T-Shirts, bracelets and scarves. Based on her experience in planning the series, Joan also put forward two inspirations for the fashion industry

"First, whether it's sneakers, leather goods, accessories, fashion, I think when you become a follower, you'll never be able to make it. If you're a brand, you can make a lot of money with the current trend, but once the wind changes or it's put in a longer period of time, it will be eliminated.

Second, you should believe that the trend can become a classic, and the classic can also become a trend in the context of the times. The two are common rather than hostile. Finally, time will tell future generations what is the gold left after screening, which is the so-called classic

In fact, in recent years, we have witnessed how the domestic color make-up has rapidly opened up a new world under the red sea of cosmetics. The young generation's recognition of Chinese culture has a strong force to promote brand growth. Will SHANGXIA, a luxury product group, be backed up by the "Oriental" series? We put three core questions to the top and bottom.

Is it feasible to cross the border of life into the field of fashion

In 2009, Jiang qionger and Hermes group of France jointly founded "SHANGXIA". Just as the name "connecting the preceding and the following" implies, since its launch, the brand has been taking the continuation of traditional Chinese craft aesthetics and innovation in combination with the times as its mission. Born in an architectural art family, Joan Er learned from the painter Cheng Shifa and the calligrapher Han Tianheng when she was young, and then went to France to study design. She won the "French Republic of literature and art Knight Medal" and "the national meritorious Knight Medal of the French Republic".

In response to why she launched the trend series, Joan strongly denied that "I must correct it." the "up and down" is not intended to do this, but we use the fashion of this era to inherit the beauty of Chinese tradition under the premise of maintaining the core of our core brand. This is a poetic expression of "up and down".

Her design field covers interior, jewelry, furniture and other fields. Her most iconic work in recent years is the "big world" carbon fiber chair that can be lifted with only one finger. Interestingly, it has the same name as the "big sun and moon" series. Therefore, this chair, which combines the Chinese "official hat" design with the traditional mortise and tenon structure, has also been "spoofed" this time 。 In a T-shirt design of the series, Bruce Lee, the king of Kung Fu, and Mona Lisa, the goddess of oil painting, sit leisurely on their chairs.

"We are used to the solemn and serious form of traditional culture, so we use it to make a little joke, which is the innovation of cultural deduction." However, Joan knows that the reason why such humorous expression is not regarded as disrespectful lies in the ten-year brand culture construction. She summarized the logic of building brand power: "you should first make enough efforts to make everyone take you Therefore, in the first decade, we created classic works with time, and then don't take ourselves seriously. We just hope to create a sense of surprise by using the trend to show that "up and down" is in line with the changes of the times

Undoubtedly, it is the best time for us to know the trend of the times. In July, the glory of "the players who just came out of the championship in July 2020" is "the champion of KPL". E-sports, sneakers, street style, "up and down" is a comprehensive approach to youth.

Taking the core IP panda of the "big sun and moon" series as an example, the creative team of "SHANGXIA" drew more than 100 drawings before it was finally determined. "The world knows that panda is the representative of China. On the one hand, we made it into a traditional window cut pattern, and then Emoji it into a cute little cartoon". Joan and the team let the panda appear in sneakers, bracelets, scarves, etc In the single product, especially in the silk scarf, the effect is very similar to the "expression pack" that swipes the screen in the network chat.

In terms of the distribution of offline channels, besides the "up and down" stores, the series has also been put on sale for the first time in inXX, a fashion brand collection store in many places across the country, showing the determination to reach young people in an all-round way. After entering the Chinese market in 2013, inXX cooperated with hundreds of international fashion brands and opened more than 210 stores in China in six years. Tmall flagship store has 2.62 million fans, which can be called the "elder" of China's tide brand market.

As for whether this means that "up and down" will be "trendy", Joan is rational. She has not overestimated the status of sneakers in the fashion industry. "There is no one to replace whom between sneakers and it bag. This is the wave after wave in the fashion cycle. Which wave becomes the mainstream is created by the times. The reason why I can't be a fashion follower all the time is that I can't follow the trend all the time

Under the red sea of sneakers, why should "up and down" catch up?

Throughout the increasingly fierce competition in the shoe market, joint brands emerge in an endless stream, luxury brands have entered the market, and each piece of popular products can not be produced without the close cooperation of shoe-making technology, style design and distribution rules. The secret of high-end brands to be "the latecomer comes first" is that they can quickly mobilize resources of all parties to achieve the best balance among the three aspects.

In the "big sun moon" series, "Shun" shoes are also divided into limited edition and ordinary edition, with 66 pairs and 500 pairs respectively. "The project took a year, and this time we chose young people's favorite Street trend as the carrier. It's not easy to balance the conflict between the two styles, but it's also a challenge for "up and down" to think about how to "dance" with tradition and the contemporary This challenge is very difficult to implement, because the shoes have higher sports function requirements than other fashion items.

"I'm very clear that we can't force bamboo and porcelain into sneakers, that is to say, it's meaningless if this product doesn't meet its functionality and comfort." In order to solve this problem, the new technology once again shows the magic power to help fashion innovation. "Bamboo carving is the essence of our traditional carving technology. In order to make it be used in sneakers, we use 4D printing technology to simulate bamboo carving to engrave Oriental patterns on the sole of shoes, and create a new color similar to celadon."

Another innovation comes from the first time that the clasp in traditional Chinese clothing is used on the laces. There are two different types of shoes when the buckle is closed or opened. This seemingly simple little detail really breaks the brains of independent shoe designer Tommy Chen, who usually deals with fashionable shoes such as air jordan and converse, now has to deal with Chinese elements. "In fact, we did a lot of tests on the pattern of Zheng's embroidery when he went to the West. “

In order to ensure that the concept of the product can be fully implemented, Joan also made an exception to form a "creative heaven group", whose designer friend is responsible for shoe design, Tommy In the end, the designer of the "Pearl shoes" series of "Chen Weiqiu shoes" is designed to promote the talents of Chen Weiqiu shoes to the public.

This way of gathering the best of everyone can't help but remind people of luxury down jacket brand moncler, which launched the genius project in cooperation with various creative people. Joan also agrees that the future trend is that brand design should be flexible. "I think the creative director is not a God, his job is to lay down the style and aesthetic system of the brand. I completed this in the first ten years, so the next step is It is a bold way to open the door of creativity and let creative people take it as a reference to jointly explore more possibilities under this aesthetic system, so that the brand can have endless vitality. "

In addition, people's demand for fashion doesn't just stay in style innovation because of the daily wear and use scenarios. Joan explains how the precise "machine" of the creative team of "big sun moon" works: "you have to remember that this is a product, and a good design can be turned into a successful product through professional and high-end technology. We call it design development。”

"So in fact, I think that the success of any product or series or brand needs a multi-faceted creative and comprehensive talent team to build it. Good design alone can't make it to the last step," she said.

Can street culture be integrated with Chinese street culture?

According to the report of the prospective industry research institute, the United States accounted for the largest share of the global sports shoes Market in 2018, reaching 31.1%. The main reason is that most of the global sports shoe brand giants come from the United States; Brazil and China account for 9.2% and 7.1% of the global sports shoe market respectively. It can be seen that there is still room for market growth, and the potential hidden in this field has not yet fully emerged.

Joan does not deny the influence of sneakers at present. "I think sneakers are actually a kind of young people's attitude towards fashion or trend, and also a kind of new identity certificate". In her opinion, behind the rise of this new popular product is the promotion of fashion democratization. "In terms of price and function, sneakers are more popular and easier to enter me than other fashion clothing items In our lives, people today always notice what shoes you wear when they meet

As a mother of three, Joan is talking to the new generation every day. She does not shy away from talking about her ambition to capture young people. "Young people are the leaders of street trends. Who doesn't want to embrace this new group of 20-30-year-old people with open arms, right? What we need to do now is to change our mentality with China for five thousand years. "

Indeed, Chinese talents are absolute experts in inheriting and reconstructing traditional culture. As a result, Mr. Lauren's style has gradually become popular in the United States. As a result, Mr. Lauren's design has become more and more popular in the United States than in other countries

This indicates that sneakers are not the end point of "up and down". China style, defined in terms of lifestyle and furniture in the first decade of the brand, will be extended to the field of clothing in the next decade. "It's my mission to combine the trend with Chinese culture and make China style known and enjoyed by Chinese people and influence the whole world again." Joan showed great firmness in her ultimate goal.

In the context of dialogue between Chinese culture and Western street style, "up and down" is a bold and innovative attempt. Whether the "double classic" series will be released in the first two months or not, the remaining "double edition" series will become popular in China in the next two months. Perhaps, as Joan said, classic achievements take time to test.