Fashion shows in China give much needed boost to global fashion industry

The recently concluded China Fashion Week has not only reflected China’s leading role in containing the spread of COVID-19, but also offered the best possible shot in the arm to an ailing global fashion sector battered by the pandemic.

Designer Chen Yehuai of Grace Chen (waving hand) and models take a curtain call during the China Fashion Week in Beijing, capital of China, March 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)

More than 300 events, including runway shows, professional competitions, business matchmaking events, cutting-edge forums and live streaming activities were held during this year's fashion week from March 24-31, attracting offline and online participation of designers and contestants from France, Britain, Italy, Japan, South Korea and other countries, said the organizing committee.

The fact that the fashion week went ahead as scheduled in Beijing could be attributed to China's successful efforts in controlling the pandemic, illustrating the strong governance capacity of the Chinese government as well as the astonishing tenacity and vitality of the Chinese market, according to Percy Gilbert, a British designer.

As a witness to the development of fashion education and the growth of fashion talents in China, Zora Gerault, director of ESMOD Guangzhou, a Chinese branch of the renowned fashion design school based in Paris, believes that the global fashion industry needs the kind of optimistic signals being sent by China more than ever to regain its confidence.

In recent years, China has played an increasingly prominent role in the global fashion industrial chain.

The trade volume of other manufactured goods last year between China and the three traditional fashion industry powers of France, Italy and Britain alone stood at $10.7 billion, data from China's General Administration of Customs indicated.

In addition, compared with overseas counterparts, China's fashion professionals have made obvious headway in terms of meeting market demand, understanding fashion trends and improving technologies.

Chinese cities such as Ningbo and Dalian have long been familiar to foreign designers and buyers as the manufacturing, trade and design centers of the fashion industry, said Lyu Yue, professor with the Central Academy of Fine Arts and also chair of the International Fashion Art Network.

"In particular, the impact of the pandemic has resulted in a downturn in the global fashion industry, while China's fashion industry has been able to resume work and sales in an orderly manner, effectively underpinning the global industrial chain," Lyu added.