Take a stroll through Plaza 66 and you will be met by the squeaky flooring, nonchalant doormen, and subtle silence of a luxury shopping mall. Housing all the international brands you could name in thirty seconds - Gucci, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Celine, Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Versace - it oozes decadence and drips 人民币 (Renminbi). Walk into aNY store and expect a Sales Assistant to immediately judge whether you are about to drop 40000 RMB on a genuine leather tote bag, studded iPhone case, and a pair of suede trousers. Once you imagine the commission the hawk-like glares become more than justifiable. Plaza 66 feels like what you can expect to find in any of the traditional fashion hubs of world; exclusive and international. Except unlike Paris, New York, London or Milan, the mall doesn’t host any indigenous brands. Fashion, although constantly changing, has a paradoxical habit of fluttering around the same, notorious, and established designers. Or, maybe it has. Shanghai Fashion Week, in its 14th edition, stretched from Oct. 13 to Oct. 21 and was arguably one of the most successful yet. Many trade shows showcased not only foreign labels, but Chinese designers too. Named Asia’s most stylish city due to a survey listing the city as number ten in the world for residents’ focus on Haute Couture, Shanghai is surpassing Tokyo and Hong Kong in the international scene. Shanghai residents continue to splurge on luxurious items, the average consumer spending more than their New York counterparts. Once attracting brands such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood, this year Shanghai Fashion Week made room for more of its local talent. Unlike Beijing’s Fashion Week, the festivity in Shanghai is considered to be less ‘official’, that is, less government-controlled. Therefore young, home-grown talent is being lured to the event, as they have the opportunity to show edgier and more open-minded collections. Ones to watch include Wenzhou-born Nicole Zhang, who combined denim, jersey and sneakers to form a sporty, unfussy collection, Liaoning-province born Tianmo Momo Wang, whose brand Museum of Friendshipis based on her whimsical childhood, throwing back the 90s, and Beijing born Zhang Na, whose lightweight silk and cotton fabrics provided the brand with one of the most wearable collections. The week even showcased traditional Chinese clothing with a twist, an effort to push tradition to the forefront of the contemporary market.However, no matter how innovative and worthy of attention the Chinese brands were, it was the international high-profile events that gained the most press in the international stage. Most noteworthy was the Ports 1961 show that featured supermodels of the moment Kendall Jenner and Joan Smalls, with Paris Hilton DJing. Commercial sponsorships from the West, including Lexus, Hallmark, and Campbell’s Soup, also dominated the runway. Pepsi actually hit the catwalk three times, partnering with three different local designers. It’s hard to tell whether these kinds of collaborations are pushing undiscovered talent to the stage or whether they are exploiting small time success stories for a greater, more commercial purpose. Pepsi, battling an influx of counterfeit products in the Chinese market, may well have been attempting to restore their name in Asia and could have been using the glitzy allure of fashion to do so. The bottom line is that China is one of the largest consumer markets for luxury goods in the world. In fact, the Chinese account for 29% of luxury expenditures. International brands do not want to be losing out to indigenous labels. But that begs the question of what fashion should truly be about. The profits are huge, but design is art and creativity and it should be able to come from anywhere, not just the most well-known brands. Although mainstream Western labels continue to produce fun, interesting stock each season, they nonetheless unfairly dominate the market. Fashion moves with culture, it moves with politics and societal change and as interest grows. Perhaps, then, Shanghai can justifiably label itself, Asia’s new stylish city. This article was written by Stephanie Bailey. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Creative Commons