In the fall of 2011, the world’s two fashion cities―New York and Beijing presented a fashion show themed with Sketch?New York Impression within one month, which attracted lots of spotlight. The same theme impressed audience differently at different times and different places. And the show owner is the renowned Chinese designer Richard Wu. “Just like the name of the brand launch―Sketch, I want to present a sketch, a creative space. With a definite orientation, I create parts of the content and consumers the rest part. People from diverse cultures and having various preferences may bring their individualism into full play by matching and accessories”, said Richard Wu when he was interpreting the theme of the show. At the creative VLOV 2012 Spring & Summer collection show, the exquisite and low-pitched design aesthetics was unanimously praised by professional media and buyers during the New York Fashion Week. What’s worth mentioning, apart from the 36 outfits exhibited in New York, the designer created an extra 8 outfits based on the actual New York impressions in a move to present a feast for the eyes of the Chinese audience during the China Fashion Week.
Back from a successful show in New York, Richard Wu now appears again on the China Fashion Week stage. Wu’s unique and reserved smile delivers more confidence and calmness. In an exclusive interview with China’s Foreign Trade, Richard Wu talked freely about his design philosophy, his New York trip and his thoughts about the domestic and the overseas fashion designers as well as the entire fashion industry. T
Qh: e H Na ev w e Yyooru k eTvre ip r been to New York before? How do you think of New York? What does the New Y
Ao r:k I nF aFsehbirouna Wry,e e20k 1m1,e a I ng otot tyhoeu ?opportunity to watch the New York Fashion Week along with the delegation of the Organizing Committee of the China Fashion Week. After conducting market research in New York, I thought the VLOV brand suits the US market in terms of design style and brand positioning. Personally, I appreciate the US business model and I plan to nudge the VLOV brand into the US market to make it more international. As the biggest city in the US, New York is a city full of cultural atmosphere and fashion is embodied throughout its sectors. In the streets of New York, well-designed shop logos and well-dressed people can be seen everywhere. This fashionable metropolis has brought me lots of creation inspiration.
I think it’s every Chinese designer’s honor to launch a show in New York. For me and VLOV, this brilliant New York fashion trip is an inevitable outcome of long-term brand planning and also an optimum choice at a perfect time.
Q: When did you decide to bring your own brand to the New York Fashion Week? And what kind of preparation have you made?
A: I began to make preparation about one year ago. The positive feedback of the
VLOV brand showed in the China Fashion Week inspires me to bring VLOV to the international stage. After conducting detailed market research about the world’s influential fashion week―Paris, Milan and New York, I found that the New York Fashion Week better suites the brand positioning of VLOV in the market. This February, along with the Organizing Committee of the China Fashion Week, I researched the New York Fashion Week, which I found was closely related with the market. At the same time, I appreciate the New York Fashion Week’s operating model―art-plus-business, which is close to my menswear brand VLOV. Moreover, I think the New York market promises tremendous potential. Therefore, I eventually chose the New York Fashion Week to launch the VLOV brand.
I have made lots of preparation for the New York brand launch, such as obtaining inspiration and collecting materials as well as custom-tailoring special fabrics.
Q: How do you think attending the impaNcet wthI neY odbru rka snFtd a?rs IhAai noldn W wWaheatetc kdh oweis ll it mean to the Chinese menswear d
Ae s:i Agns wdoe mknaoinw?, the New York Fashion Week is the world’s top fashion stage, therefore, I regard it as not only a fashion show, but an in-depth communication with the world’s fashion. The New York Fashion Week provides an opportunity for VLOV to enter the international market and as a strategic objective for VLOV in the next move, the US market is a significant initiative in the planning blueprint for brand internationalization. As a result, attending the New York Fashion Week is of great significance to the Chinese fashion brand which strives to have a presence in the international high-end market.
Shifting to integrating Chinese culture into DNA from emphasizing Chinese symbols, the domestic designers’ performance has attracted more and more attention in the international stage. Gradually going global to participate in the international integration, Chinese menswear designers aim at bringing the domestic menswear design into the international stage and enabling the world to get to know both China and the Chinese designers. Likewise, only by keeping learning and contacting with the world can the Chinese designers make objective comments about their own works. The design philosophy―Sketch
Q: Where did you get the inspiration for this season’s brand l
Aa u:n Icnh a? sketched space, you may have your own thoughts, your own creation and your own performance. In a sketched space, you may fill in your own things.
Outline is the highlight for designers to stress the “sketch” theme: there were tailored coats and also loose casual wear. The two dark-blue loose outfits are the designer’s favorite―collarless and loose-cuff outfits fully demonstrate comfortableness and also leave much creative freedom to the wearer. Besides, Richard Wu’s structure design highly praised during the New York Fashion Week also embodies many creative ideas: threedimensional modeling and no-sideseam design make the outfit wellfitting and more stylish; creative noarmhole design makes the outfit more attractive in details; the ingenious dart shifting makes the traditional dart as a decoration, which becomes a highlight in the outfit design.
Mixed and matched among the purely natural fabrics featuring flax and high-density cotton fabrics, the abundant nylon fabrics utilized in this season’s fashion show broadcasted youthful and sportive feelings but did not damage the elegant style. Moreover, colors in the fashion show are bright: from the elegant and classical gray series, to the cool black series, and to the fresh and sunny white and blue series, the designer definitely delivers the new round of fashion trends for the VLOV menswear.
Q: Who is your target customer
A: Rwohbeenr ty Poaut tainreso dne, sti hgen hinegro? in the Twilight. His melancholy princelike but not flighty temperament as well as his sharp eyes make me cannot help connecting VLOV with him.
Q: As design often carries the personality and preference of the designer, what kind of persona
Al it: y M doye ws oVrkLsO tVar gsehto awt ?white collars’elegant menswear, which advocates simplicity, elegance and taste. The menswear I have designed stand for men’s dressing code in the new era. Fresh, elegant and exquisite are the main features of my design, which may somewhat reflect my life style―pursing perfection and elegance.
Q: Which brand is your favorite and which designer is your i
Ad o:l? Diane Von Furstenberg, President of the Council of Fashion Designers of the America and Kris Van Assche, Chief Designer of DIOR.
Only Integration with Business can Bring the Brand to Somewhere
Q: Have you ever thought that you may fail this time just as the domestic designers who attended the international fashion week before? Why do you think the home-grown brands have no way to enter the international market and just turn out t
Ao b:e It ad eflpaesnhd i sn otnh et hpea na t?tendees’ mentality and purpose as well as the integration with the business model afterwards. For the VLOV brand launch in the New York Fashion Week, I just want to showcase the brand at the international stage. In the mean time, I think highly of the New York market as it better suites my brand style. Besides, I want to learn about the New York culture, by which I may breathe fresh ideas to my brand. I thought I would not come back without any gains. “What matters is not that you stand there, but the direction you face towards”―I highly appreciate this motto, which also reflects the mentality for me to attend the New York Fashion Week. I’m not sure about the purpose of other brand launches at the international stage, but I know well about my objective. In my opinion, no matter where you choose to launch your brand, only by effectively integrating the brand with business can you bring your brand to somewhere.
Q: Comparing with the overseas designers, what do you think are the strength and weakness of t
Ah e: d I ofemele istt’sic a d gerseiagt nheornso?r for us Chinese designers to live in this era, when we have absorbed the cultural heritage from China’s brilliant 5,000-year history and we may obtain lots of design inspiration. I think this diverse era will provide a perfect stage for the current generation of designers. Under the current Chinese circumstances, only with good works can you be recognized by the market and can you have abundant opportunities. This can be regarded to be the strength of a Chinese designer.
The works created by the domestic designers, I think, lack innovation. We have spent much time following suit and there is still a long way for us to go in terms of innovation, which I think we have to learn from our overseas counterparts.
Q: What do you think can the Chinese designers learn from the overseas
A: Originality, innovation and mentality, where I think we can do better and which are absent from many domestic designers. However, I believe we Chinese designers will create better works as long as we make full use of our rich cultural heritage and fast-developed information as China keeps developing speedily and becomes more international.
Q: What do you think is the
relation between the design and the sales profit for the China-designed brands to attend the international f
Aa s:h Wionh wae t eyko?u are talking about is actually the relation between the product and the market. Personally, I think designers have to know how to integrate the product into the market, as on the one hand design serves business purposes and cannot exist independently of the market; and on the other hand, blindly catering to the market will make the product lose individualism. Therefore, the product and the market have to depend on each other.