Taiwan pop star Kenji Wu with his independent brand BeBrand ignited the Xiamen Menswear Week's grand opening ceremony on Nov 6.
Being the first showcase of Menswear Week, Wu and his team of designers made a powerful entrance with their collection, featuring a heavy influence of traditional Chinese culture and American hip-hop, promoting an attitude of youth, rebellion and individuality.
"I used to see hipster kids wearing clothes with random English printed on it and thinking it's cool, " said Wu. "So I thought we need our own fashion brand. Our brand has been focused on the Chinese elements such as oracles. It's part of our culture and our fashion."
As part of Xiamen International Fashion Week from Nov 5-13, Menswear Week has invited award-winning fashion experts, young brand designers and dozens of internet celebrities to the venue to celebrate its opening. Apart from the Taiwan singer Kenji Wu, other guests included Zhou Shaoming, the general manager of Septwovles, designer Ji Wenbo and CEO of APAX Group Zhu Guoliang.
"Xiamen has taken one step further into the fashion industry, but we need to aim bigger," said Ji. "What we expect for the city is to be like world-renowned cities such as Milan and Paris. It will be a difficult mission, and we need everybody's contribution."
This year's Xiamen Fashion Week has introduced the new See-Now, Buy-Now show model, which was first proposed and used by Burberry this September. After the showcase, guests can shop for any clothes they are fond of on the online shop immediately following the show.
"It is the first case of a See-Now, Buy-Now show in Asia. It is a breakthrough, a great innovation to combine the internet and fashion brands together," said Ji. "It also makes our local designers' work more accessible to the whole world."
Xiamen Menswear Week has scheduled 12 more shows featuring international brands such as JWB, Ed Hardy, BOYLONDON and Yuge Bromley & Co.
The 2016 Xiamen International Fashion Week opened on Nov 5, with more than 1,500 visitors and business representatives attending the opening ceremony.
More than 50 activities, including exhibitions, forums, fashion and culture-related events are scheduled for the week.
Ren Xiaojin and Zhang Yi contributed to the story.
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