The great catwalk of China: 41 radical new designers

The obsession of Chinese luxury shoppers with Western brands is old news. Now, a new book entitled Fashion China is turning the spotlight on the top local brands vying for the international spotlight.

中国奢侈品消费者痴迷西方品牌已是老生常谈。现在，《时尚中国》中国一些顶级品牌争相引起全球的关注。

Written by Irish fashion curator Gemma A. Williams, the book provides an introduction to 41 of the country’s most exciting designers, from Fashion Fringe award-winner Haizhen Wang to couturier Laurence Xu.

《时尚中国》作者为爱尔兰时装馆馆长杰玛·A·威廉姆斯，本书介绍了41名中国最激动人心的设计师，包括时尚边缘奖得主王海震，以及服装设计师许建树。

The author was initially inspired by the growing number of Chinese international students she encountered while working at the London College of Fashion’s Fashion Space Gallery in 2013.To find the most interesting designers, Williams brought together a panel of Chinese experts, including Liu Wen -- widely considered the first Chinese supermodel -- and Karchun Leung, editor of Numéro China.

2013年，作者在伦敦时装学院的时尚空间画廊工作时发现中国的留学生数量越来越多，大受启发。为了发掘最有趣的设计师，威廉姆斯集合了一批中国的专家，其中包括被称为中国第一超模的刘文，以及法国时尚杂志《Numéro》中国版主编梁家俊。

"I’m trying to understand the industry in terms of our systems" she says. "Collaboration with [the panel] really opened my eyes to how unique the industry was." "They helped me realize that the same criteria will never apply to the Chinese market. It’s too large and it’s too new, so they can set their own benchmarks."

“我试着根据我们自己的体制去了解时尚产业，”她说道，“与他们合作，拓展了我的视野，我意识到这个产业非常独特。他们让我意识到，同样的准则不可能适用于中国的市场。中国的市场很大，很新，因此他们可以有自己的基准。”

By profiling a range of designers, Fashion China dispels common misconceptions about what Chinese fashion means. Designers like Guo Pei, who creates lavish, architectural couture gowns in Beijing, prove that ’Made in China’ needn’t mean shoddy quality; and the international buzz behind

《时尚中国》简单介绍了一些设计师，扫除了人们对中国时尚界的误解。设计师郭培在北京设计了奢华的建筑时装礼服，证明“中国制造”不一定是指质量低劣。

But Williams thinks it could be a while before a Chinese designer becomes a household name abroad.

但是威廉姆斯表示，中国设计师要想在国际上享有家喻户晓的知名度，仍需要一段时间。

Because of the diversity and breadth of their aesthetics, she doubts there will be a unified rise to prominence."Chinese fashion is so varied and so disparate that it’s very hard to pick out one or two aesthetics ... It’s not like Japan, where they had a unified aesthetic." she says.

因为这些设计师所持的美学观点种类不同，对于该产业是否能有统一兴起的可能，她持怀疑态度。她说：“中国的时尚界非常分散，因此很难选出一种或两种美学观。这与日本不同，日本拥有统一的美学观念。”

However, Williams hopes the book will encourage Westerners to shop outside their comfort zones, and recognize the value of work being done outside of the fashion capitals."My main goal is to promote," she says. "It’s really exciting that people are talking about these brands and finding out about them, and I hope [Fashion China] opens up the discourse around Chinese fashion."

但是，威廉姆斯希望《时尚中国》能够鼓励西方人购物时，能够走出舒适区，对时尚之都之外的作品给予应有的认可。她说：“我的主要目标就是要宣传。很高兴，人们开始讨论这些品牌，并去了解这些品牌。我希望《时尚中国》能够引起人们对中国时尚界的热议。”

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来源:CNN英语新闻爱语吧作者:邱灿