Circle of Friends

On one of Shanghai's rare and precious blue-sky days, some of Shanghai most prominent expat fashion and accessory designers met up to discuss the state of creativity in the city. Heather Kaye and Itee Soni, founders of eco-clothing company, Finch; jewelry brand Josie Chen's executive design director, Joanne Swift and Mojca Pungartnik, head of product management; together with Cairn Wu Reppun from Kaileeni and William the Beekeeper, and designer Frau Ana are all foreign women on a mission to make China a market for boutique brands, sustainable manufacturing processes and a more colorful place to live, work, dress and accessorize.





CH: How did you come to be in Shanghai and what are you all doing here?

Cairn: I've been here four and a half years. When we came we were one of the first stores to sell vintage and use vintage fabrics and it was a new concept for people, so it didn't go so well, but after a few years people have started to learn and I have some customers now who are huge advocates of vintage clothing.

Heather: I do most of the textile sourcing and manufacturing side for our brand, which we launched last June as an antidote to the large fashion world that we had been a part of for many years. We wanted to do something local and sustainable and just use organic fabrics. Itee does most of the design and I do most of the textile sourcing and manufacturing.

Ana: I came about five years ago after graduating from design school in Germany and I started working here for a German company. Then two years ago I started to think it was really boring and it was all black and I hated it. I love colors, so I started my own label. Now I'm in the second year of the whole Frau Ana thing and the idea is to show people that they shouldn't be afraid of colors.

Heather: Color therapy, I like that! We have an extremely bright collection too. Even though beforehand our closets were largely black, when we design our own clothes it's a different story. Really saturated, heavy citron and hot pinks.

Ana: Yeah when people go into my house they are like, "How can you live here?" Because it's all pink, but I love it. It makes me happy.

Joanne: I came to China to teach fashion design and then I started working for retailers. Then on weekends I started messing around with jewelry. It's been two years since I've had my studio and we're doing okay. We're really focusing on the China market and it's very rock 'n' roll – so it's very heavy, it's all metals, blacks. We're trying to put a bit of color in there.

Mojca: Maybe some grey?

[Laughs]

Mojca: I came to Shanghai in 2009 and I joined Josie Chen a year ago. We met here in Shanghai a couple of months after I came basically, and we clicked.


Josie Chen

CH: How have you found the creative atmosphere in Shanghai compared to your home countries?

Joanne: It's amazing. The creativity is evolving very quickly, a lot more quickly than in our own countries. But I think it's very different, you can't compare it.

Heather: I mean what's so great about being here as everybody knows is that it's such an entrepreneurial place. The financial costs of starting your own company and making those mistakes that entrepreneurs do are so much lower, so it's a great place to just dive in and give it a shot.

Cairn: You know when we go back to the States or Europe there's a lot of competition, there's a lot of great talent there. But when you come here, there's not necessarily as much competition. But you can be more original here because there's less pressure.

Joanne: There's too much scrutiny overseas.

Cairn: Right, and you can either get complacent, you know, like the designers who do a lot of copying here. Or you can really go for it and really design your heart out.

Ana: That is another cool thing if you are designing as a foreigner in China, because you are not a Chinese designer, people are more interested in you because you are different.


William the Beekeeper

CH: What inspires you?

Ana: Life. For me the best inspiration is sitting around a table with friends who work with art, music, writers painters, whatever and talk about something, you know. Sometimes it's a book, sometimes it's a person, sometimes it's a story... it's just life.

Heather: Definitely art, museums, exhibitions, we go to them all. Gallery openings and things like that.

Itee: This season our colors are more about Shanghai...

Heather: Yeah, the old vintage, peachy, minty and orange colors that are on all the buildings.

Joanne: Egypt at the moment, Liz Taylor inspired me for the last one.

Cairn: I think when I travel and see aboriginal people dressed in their traditional garb, it's really interesting stuff. When I see a peasant on the street in Shanghai, I like what they're wearing, I like the way they put it together. It's just a hot mess, but I like it.

CH: How does working in Shanghai effect your creative process?

Joanne: There's no bullshit here really. You feel as though you don't have restraints so I feel so much freer.

Heather: It's totally different. I've always worked in the corporate fashion world, I worked for Donna Karen and Liz Claiborne, and we also worked for a Canadian company, so it's totally different working with just the two of us.

Ana: I don't care where I am, in terms of designing. I do whatever I want and if people like it, they like it.


Frau Ana

CH: You have all been based in Shanghai for some time, have you noticed any change in the creative atmosphere here in recent years?

Joanne: Definitely, I'd say. We've got so many more people coming here and creating and starting little boutiques and everyone gets inspired by it.

Heather: I think even five years ago, when I moved here, there would be some things happening. But now, every week there's tons of things happening. Now there's a lot going on – in fashion, in art, in design – all kinds of things.

Cairn: Buyers will always be a little bit more sophisticated as time goes on. It's not a boutique culture as yet, but they'll start to learn, they'll start to be more sophisticated and they'll start to shop at boutiques and be interested in eco-friendly fabrics, and rock 'n' roll and neon colors and vintage things.

CH: One last question: what have you got planned for the future?

Heather: Lunch...

Cairn: Well for my brand and with these brands here I want to change the face of China and Shanghai. Make them embrace eco-friendliness and vintage and all that good stuff. I think that we do have a huge influence here and I think think have a huge responsibility to teach the customers what we're about. I think over time, the Chinese will really embrace this as a way of life.

Itee: While China is manufacturing to the world it would be a really good idea for it to pioneer and really take over this green revolution. Because if they do a successful job of managing businesses that are more eco and sustainability conscious they can lead by example instead of just becoming economic giants, they could also lead something like this, which is much more meaningful.

Heather: For me the other thing we want to do is create a small manufacturing facility which is totally socially and environmentally sustainable. We're working on this with some partners in Kunshan to, within the next year, have a carbon-neutral manufacturing facility that will be open to small designers.

Ana: In terms of my brand, selling more all over China and Japan and Germany. And just... painting the world and making it colorful.


Finch

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The brands that participated in this discussion are sponsors of the 1st Annual Closet Swap to be held at Cotton's on Saturday, May 14th, 12pm-4pm; RMB 40 per person, includes a complimentary drink and tote bag.

Guests who are swapping clothes and accessories are asked to bring in their items to William the BeeKeeper before May 11th to receive tickets that will be used to swap on the day. See Creative Hunt's full listing here, or for further information, click here.