Local designers try to get a foothold in the market

At a recent design launch and seminar in Beijing, some of China's top designers of streetwear fashion pointed out that, while being viewed as 'cool' and promoting self-expression are important, they now aim higher than just creating niche brands.

Vans, an extreme sports fashion brand from the United States, invited four Chinese labels to launch jointly-designed new collections, based on its own classic shoe model - the Era.

The four local brands, all with English names - Attempt, Myge, Randomevent and Roaringwild - were recommended to Vans by Yoho, a leading trends and cultural communication platform in China.

Attempt's founder and chief designer is Liang Dong, who paid homage to Chinese rock music with his design, which is inspired by The Higher Being, a well-known song by Chinese rocker Dou Wei, released in 1994. He applied a white canvas with quilted lines as the main design for the shoe, before adding the Chinese characters for "the higher being" on the heel and sole.

Liang, 38, born in Hubei province, says that he's deeply moved by Dou's lyrics, and wanted to share this with his customers.

"Throughout puberty, most people are relatively lost, including me. We are sensitive to the world, filled with both positive and negative emotions. As we grow up, we find human nature so complex."

Zhao Meng from Hebei province, 36, the founder of Myge, was inspired by Chinese kung fu films, especially the golden era of the Hong Kong film industry.

Various kung fu elements, including hand-painted figures of Bruce Lee, are put together like a poster and applied to an allover print. The outsole print is made up of traditional Chinese calligraphy that forms platitudes such as "glory comes from your own hands".

Zhao, who's been a keen kung fu movie fan since he was young, says: "Vans is a brand for extreme sports, and kung fu is also a sport. Its acrobatic fighting style is straightforward and exciting."

The third brand, Randomevent, introduces shoes in bright yellow, with a pattern of green game disks printed on the sole. Its designer, Hong Yang, 29, from Zhejiang province, was inspired by classic Nintendo video games.

Being a fervent game player, Hong notes: "My memories of gathering with friends at home and playing video games are still so fresh, and I believe many people will share the same feeling."

Roaringwild's design was created by its founder Cao Yang, 27, who met his business partners through street dance. He applied an allover print with a blurred effect, representing their meeting place in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, where they used to dance. The sole is embossed with traditional Chinese calligraphy that reads "harmony being the most precious".

Alvin Chen, product director of Vans in China, claims that the company has been working hard to introduce more outstanding designers and brands to the market since 2013.

"Vans encourages creative brands and distinctive design," says the 40-year-old, who has been with the company for eight years. "We closely support street culture, fashion and artistic expression growing together."

Chen says the brand tries to reach a balance of culture and commercial success, and that the corporate culture is to "stick to what feels right, and the business will come".

At the launch of the cooperative designs, which formed part of a seminar in Beijing, the four founders of the Chinese brands shared their thoughts and ideas about the current state of Chinese fashion.

Liang says there's no standout brand or design in China, but he hoped one day there will be a designer who makes a name through successful design, while Hong says that he learned more about how to better complete a product through teamwork during the design launch. "Creation itself is difficult, but the threshold is not that high. The challenge is how to understand ourselves from the perspective of others," Hong says.

Cao echoes Hong: "Design creation is an egotistical thing. The difficulty is to let others understand and accept.

"Fashion is not only inseparable from the idea of design and creativity, but also closely linked to sales and marketing. I don't want to run a niche brand. Being viewed as 'cool' and promoting self-expression are important, but fashion is a business after all."