Chinese culture and AI inspire fashion designers

Chinese fashion designer Zhao Huizhou presented her latest creations carrying the ethnic cultural elements of Miao during Milan Fashion Week held from Sept 20-26.

It has been her 11th year at the show since Zhao founded her fashion company in Shenzhen in 1997. For her, a modern city like Shenzhen is an "ideal cradle" for designers to keep pursuing innovation.

"What I've experienced every year at Milan Fashion Week has encouraged me to seek inspiration from my roots — the Chinese culture," Zhao said. She has been endeavoring for years to inject new life into China's intangible cultural heritage through fashion.

Also in Milan Fashion Week, Yang Zi, another Shenzhen fashion designer, used frontier technologies to better design her latest collection.

Known for bold and futuristic designs, Yang was the first fashion designer to have presented an artificial intelligence-powered collection at the event, in collaboration with Shenzhen-based tech company Huawei.

An increasing number of Shenzhen designers are making an impact overseas. Many of them have established overseas sales channels in fashion capitals like London and Paris. Some of the Shenzhen-based fashion companies acquired brands in Italy and France.

Official statistics showed that more than 2,500 garment companies have been registered in Shenzhen, of which 90% have their own brands. The city has a strong advantage in women's wear, especially in the middle-to-high-end domestic garments market.

During the 2022 Shenzhen Fashion Week held in April, AI and virtual reality were used for the first time to demonstrate its theme of "Fashion Metaverse".

The industry will positively embrace the development of digital technologies as the city government plans to build a fashion hub with global influence, said Pan Ming, president of the Shenzhen Garment Industry Association, one of the fashion week's organizers.

Huawei recently signed an agreement with Longhua district to develop a digitalized fashion base — the Dalang Fashion Town.

The Dalang Fashion Town in the district has been home to more than 700 fashion companies, including most of the top garment brands for women in China and some of the international brands across the world.