'There will never be a Chinese Fashion' – Staking a claim for Shanghai as a Fashion City

I first thought of ‘Chinese fashion’ as a concept a few years ago when I interviewed a portentous gentleman who at the time held a very important position in the French fashion industry. He spoke disparagingly of Chinese designers coming to Paris to showcase their work during fashion week: ‘We’ve had a number of established Chinese designers showing in Paris by now, but after a while we realised that they had no talent and that no press was interested.’ Being many decades younger, and perhaps because of it subject to a different notion of the importance of both diversity and political correctness, I was quietly scandalized. But at the same time, the man’s sneering off-the-cuff remark made me reflect on my own attitude towards Chinese fashion. Was the fact that I hadn’t even considered it not a sign of the same prejudice?