17 Sep Chinese emerging designers received the tickets to PITTI UOMO

During the latest Shanghai Fashion Week held in April, Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery announced a special project called “GUEST NATION CHINA”. The aim is to collaborate with Shanghai Fashion Week and bring talented Chinese designers to present their work in PITTI UOMO, the world most important event for men’s fashion.

Event poster, photo via @Labelhood

The project is curated by Labelhood, the most trendy incubator of emerging designers in China, and powered by Tmall. 10 innovative  menswear labels were selected to present their collections with the runway shows and exhibitions in Florence, including 8on8, Danshan, Ffixxed Studios,  Percy Lau, Private Policy, PRONOUNCE, Samuel Guì Yang, The Flocks, Staffonly and Untitlab.

Selected Chinese emerging fashion & accessory brands, photo via @HypebeastChina

The first Chinese brand on PITTI UOMO runway

PRONOUNCE, the Chinese menswear designer brand founded by Yushan Li and Jun Zhou in 2016, was selected as the first Chinese brand to stage a runway show at Pitti Uomo to celebrate Guest Nation. The two designers are concentrating on the modernization of inherited crafts and mixing Chinese aesthetic with international trends. For 2020SS, PRONOUNCE uses Mongolian knitted techniques and eco-prints to present their collection “A Fresh Dig” inspired by China’s terracotta warriors.

PRONOUNCE 2020SS runway and backstage, photo via @HypebeastChina

Re-interpretation of Converse Jack Purcell shoes, photo via @Labelhood

Accessories inspired by Terracotta Warriors, collaborated with @Undetected, photo via @PRONOUNCE

Chinese culture revival

As the response to the “Chinese Heritage Hip 国潮“, Tmall brought various exciting indie-designer crossover inspired by Chinese culture and art to the PITTI UOMO GUEST NATION CHINA exhibition and launched a landing page on its e-commerce platform to celebrate this remarkable event with Chinese consumers.

Mark Fairwhale’s Dunhuang art-inspired collection, designed by @8on8, photographer @Leslie Zhang

Chinese traditional medicine inspiration, brand @Debrand

“Youthquake” collection by Chinese heritage shoe brand @Warrior 1927