Culture
2021.09.22 23:15 GMT+8

Guochao: homegrown designs making a splash among young consumers

Updated 2021.09.22 23:15 GMT+8
Shen Li

A special fashion trend called Guochao, which means national wave, is taking Beijing Design Week by storm. The trend is about wearing homegrown brands.

For Generation Z Chinese, getting in touch with their roots in a world influenced by Western aesthetics is a natural choice. At a special section dedicated to Guochao, old heritage brands are gathering interest apart from the newly established ones, which usually demonstrate the rising trend.

A giant installation shows different garments intertwined with each other is making heads turn at the ChaoYoung section at Beijing Design Week.

It's a part of the showcase of Less is More, a branch brand of Lilanz, one of the country's leading menswear brands with over 30 years of history.

Beijing Design Week shows Guochao, the rising trend of homegrown designs. /CGTN

Less is More targets young consumers with their lineup of business and casual wear and conveys the message of embracing all the possibilities.

Man Yang, an artist who created this installation, told CGTN that he had de-constructed the garments. He said: "The trousers and the jackets are not worn the usual way, because I want to invite people to think outside the box and reflect on the clothing's function in our daily life, to unveil the many other possibilities of clothing."

Bai Zhe, who helped curate the Less is More exhibition area, the installation "Embrace" also hints at old heritage brands like Lilanz embracing new designs and new customers.

He said: "I used to see my father wearing garments from the brand, and now I also wear the brand because it's been absorbing new energy and keeping up with the aesthetics of the youth today. They see that time-honored brand can be full of surprises."

Beijing Design Week shows Guochao, the rising trend of homegrown designs. /CGTN

In recent years, young Chinese consumers have been increasingly interested in integrating traditional Chinese culture and style with domestic brands and products.

And for up-and-coming fashion designer William Shen, the cultural legacy has been his biggest inspiration. He's been incorporating auspicious signs of dragons and phoenixes into down jacket designs. He calls it a 5-D down jacket as it encapsulates both time-honored cultural traditions and history.  

Shen said that they'd decorated the area like the Great Wall with a down jacket imitating the bricks of the wall and relief of dragons and Pheonix decorated on the wall.

Beijing Design Week 2021 runs till September 27. /Beijing Design Week

The Guochao trend reflects the sudden rise of domestic brands and the resurgence of Chinese cultural elements and traditional style. Designer Jiang Wei said traditional cultural elements can be integrated with current trends to make more fashionable styles. A big part of his clientele is millennials.

"More and more young people have chosen to wear traditional clothing at their weddings or special occasions because it shows their personality and cultural identity," he told CGTN.

Creating styles that make the Chinese feel cool again isn't any easier than it was before, but the "Made in China" trend has gone from stigma to style.

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