(Photo/Courtesy of the event organizer)
Shanghai Fashion Week (SFW), China's most significant biannual celebration of fashion and design, is set to return Friday, with more than 70 brands from China and abroad to reveal designs for this year's autumn and winter seasons through catwalk shows and presentations at a variety of venues in town.
Friday night, Chinese fashion brand Lanyu, from designer Liu Lanyu, will raise the curtain for the week's events with a catwalk show at Taipinghu Park (Huangpi Road South, by Xingye Road) in Xintiandi, which serves as a major venue for SFW.
From Friday to April 16, the park will see 49 brands put out their designs at two halls set above the water.
Liu, who joined the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week in 2014, will not only bring her signature design of wedding dresses, but also showcase her ready-to-wear series, kids' clothes and accessories.
According to Wang Lin, CEO of Lanyu, before and after the show, the brand will also hold different events to promote fashion and design, which includes a static exhibition of clothes, a project to discover and stimulate young designers, and a showroom behind the stage where patrons can buy goods.
This year, the closing show at Xintiandi will be presented by Chinese brand Jorya, which hails from Xiamen of Fujian Province and claims to cater to intellectually elegant women.
Flares, ruffles and lace, as well as bows are some of the brand's favorite details.
In other parts of the city, the Jing'an 800Show (800 Changde Road) will be dedicated to a stage for children's wear and Chinese student designers; Rockbund's time-honored China Baptist Publication Building (209 Yuanmingyuan Road) will turn into a multimedia exhibition space, called "Labelhood," to showcase 12 cutting-edge Chinese designers through costumes, music, videos and art installations.
According to data released by Phoenix Fashion, the Shanghai Fashion Week in October attracted over 100,000 people to its catwalks.
Meanwhile, more than 5,300 visitors went to the Mode Shanghai fashion trade show at Datong Mill (158 Julu Road) to check out latest designs by 400 brands from China and abroad.
This year, Mode Shanghai will invite 25 showrooms to display about 500 brands to buyers and agencies in China from Friday to April 11.
Moreover, Mode Shanghai will put together a trade event called "Ontimeshow" in Xuhui district.
From Saturday to April 11, Art West Bund (2555 Longteng Avenue) will present a very grand showcase of not only fashion brands, but also accessories and lifestyle brands.
Chinese fashion blogger Lin Jian will continue to bring his Showroom Shanghai to fashion buyers at The House (5-6/F, 380 Huangpi Road South). Lin collaborates with dozens of Chinese fashion brands.
Forums are another organic part of Shanghai Fashion Week, intended to address the different aspects of the industry, from designing and making clothes to retailing.
This year, professionals from SFW and counterparts in Europe, Paris Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week, will join at a forum Saturday to shed light on how to promote a city's development through a fashion week.
According to Liu Min, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, last year the total retail sales of consumer goods in the city reached more than 1 trillion yuan ($155.26 billion), an 8.1 percent increase from 2014.
