中國設計走向世界

“Made in China” is having its moment now—and its a fashionable one.

The story of Chinese fashion began in 2011 when Feiyue and Huili， both Chinese sneaker brands， suddenly gained international attention. Their products were seen on models all over the world. In September 2018， Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning was at the New York Fashion Week with new designs—hoodies and jackets decorated with Chinese characters.

Shaun Rein， managing director of China Market Research Group said that the latest Chinese brands are no longer promoting themselves on the basis of their cheapness. He told CNN， “They are impressive and ambitious and can go head to head with foreign brands.”

And this ambition may be due to the fact that Chinas young people are now more confident about their own culture. Western culture doesnt have the instant appeal to the young that it once had.

“Todays young people in China are passionate about Chinese cultural elements，” Jin Qu， vice president of YOHO， an urban clothing shopping website in China， said at a cultural festival in November， 2018. “They like these elements printed on their clothes， even the brand image of laoganma—the famous chili sauce in China—which was once seen as outside of fashion. But now young people are proud of these Chinese symbols.”

In fact， many celebrities in the West now have an interest in Chinese cultural elements in fashion. US singer Rihanna， for example， wore a shiny and heavily embroidered yellow gown to the 2015 Met Gala to match the galas theme “China： Through the Looking Glass”. The gown was designed and made by Chinese designer Guo Pei.

“We have to move from manufacturing to service and creativity，” Chinese-American architect and designer Aric Chen once told The Financial Times. “We want to replace the words ‘Made in China with ‘Designed in China.”

“中國制造”如今開始嶄露頭角——在時尚界占領一席之地。

中國潮流的故事始于2011年，當時，中國運動鞋品牌“飛躍”和“回力”忽然間獲得全球關注。世界各地的模特都開始穿上這些品牌的產品。2018年9月，中國運動品牌“李寧”在紐約時裝周上發布了新產品——印有漢字的衛衣和夾克。

中國市場研究集團總經理雷小山表示，新晉中國品牌都不再以“廉價”作為賣點。他在接受CNN采訪時表示：“它們表現出眾，雄心勃勃，能與外國品牌一較高下。”

而此番雄心或許源于中國年輕人對中華文化有了更強的自信心。西方文化不再像過去那樣，能立刻吸引年輕人的關注。

“現在的中國年輕人，他們非常熱愛中國的文化元素。”中國都市購物網站YOHO集團副總裁靳曲在2018年11月的一場文化活動上表示，“他們喜歡這些中國元素印在衣服上，甚至中國馳名的辣椒醬品牌老干媽都被印在了衣服上，以前大家覺得‘土，但現在的年輕人為這些中國符號自豪。”

事實上，許多西方名人如今也對時尚界中的中國文化元素很感興趣。比如，美國歌手蕾哈娜在2015年的紐約大都會藝術博物館慈善舞會上穿了一件有大量刺繡的金黃色禮服，以呼應當年的主題“中國：鏡花水月”。這件禮服由中國設計師郭培設計制作。

“我們要從制造業轉向服務業和創意行業。”美籍華裔建筑師及設計師陳伯康在接受《金融時報》采訪時曾如此表示，“我們想將‘中國制造變為‘中國設計。”

Word Study

hoodie /'h?d?/ n. 連帽衫; 帶帽夾克

appeal /?'pi?l/ n. 吸引力;感染力;魅力

The prospect of living in a city holds little appeal for me.

embroider /?m'br??d?（r）/ v. 刺繡