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| (Xinhua) |
China's first lady Peng Liyuan made a splash on the world stage this week, with her choice of attire sparking a flurry of excitement about an independent homegrown label.
Images of Peng stepping off a plane arm-in-arm with President Xi Jinping in Moscow circulated widely online, prompting praise of her style as understated and sophisticated.
Eagle-eyed fashion-savvy bloggers identified the leather handbag she carried and smart, double-breasted black trench coat she wore as items designed by Guangzhou-based label Exception de Mixmind.
The brand has been described as one of China's leading independent labels whose simple but unique designs stand out in an industry dominated by Western copycats.
"First ladies are ambassadors of the culture and the design and of the soft power of a country. I'm glad that she chose to wear Chinese and take up that role of spokesperson for Chinese design here," Hong Huang, publisher of fashion magazine iLook, told The Associated Press.
"It's good that finally China has a very pretty, very beautiful first lady and she can hopefully speak up for a lot more and complement whatever Xi wants to say, in a way, like all first ladies do," Hong said.
Heavy online traffic to Exception de Mixmind's website caused it to crash while the share prices of Chinese clothing companies rose yesterday.
The company was established in 1996 by designer Ma Ke and her husband Mao Jihong, Hong said. It now has nearly 100 stores and retail counters in China.
Company spokeswoman Tan Yijia said she could not immediately confirm that the pieces Peng wore were made by the label. Guangzhou's quality supervision bureau, however, said on its microblog that they were.
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