What Is “New Chinese Style”? And Everything Else You Missed From Shanghai Fashion Week

As the saying goes, it’s always Fashion Week somewhere. Just two weeks after the Paris shows ended, it was off to Shanghai Fashion Week. The seven day showcase is quickly becoming a must-see to rival the big four, with international labels flocking to the city for shows and activations, and the home-grown designers going global.

Last October, the shows marked SHFW’s return to pre-pandemic levels of activity. It was a buzzy, busy schedule, and the excitement, both from designers and the industry, was palpable. The story was a little different this time around. Designers everywhere are feeling the effects of the global economic slowdown, and the fact that Shanghai Fashion Week is a relatively young showcase at 21 years old (hey, at least it’s old enough to have a drink stateside) means that most of its designers are either independent and/or up-and-coming. Everywhere around the world, these are the talents that are consistently the most susceptible to feeling the strain of the economy.

Still, the city’s budding fashion community is resilient and determined. These are nimble creatives who know how to adapt—even in the midst of a conservative season, designers came through with riveting displays of creativity and commercial savvy. Here’s a quick rundown of the city’s buzziest shows: Mark Gong offered a riff on Carrie Bradshaw’s style, dressing his “Gong girls” in silky slips, cool cargos, and fabulous leather tailoring; Oude Waag’s Jingwei Yin went softer, draping timeless slinky sheaths while expanding his assortment of outerwear with cozy shearlings; Louis Shengtao Chen cleverly looked to streetwear silhouettes to balance his penchant for evening, while Yirantian Guo focused on dressing the working woman with sharp, versatile tailoring, also present at Jacques Wei, who complemented his more dressier options with easy knits and playful styling.

Scroll through to catch up on what you may have missed from Shanghai Fashion Week.

New China Style, Explained