一身黃袍引發的對中國設計師的關注
When Rihanna wore a fur-trimmed yellow satin gown by the Chinese-born designer Guo Pei to the Met Gala on Monday night, it became the talk of Twitter, which erupted with jokey comparisons to omelets and pizzas. Memes using cartoon characters like SpongeBob SquarePants were rampant. “The fashion world pretty much came to a standstill,” Glamour magazine wrote of the “jaw-dropping” cloak, while Time magazine declared that the singer stole the show.
週一晚上，蕾哈娜(Rihanna)身穿中國設計師郭培設計的黃色皮毛鑲邊綢緞禮服出席大都會藝術博物館的慈善晚宴(Met Gala)，成爲Twitter上的熱議話題，人們戲謔地把這件禮服與煎蛋餅和披薩相比較。用海綿寶寶(SpongeBob)等卡通人物設計的網絡米姆(meme)紛紛涌現。《魅力》(Glamour)雜誌提到這件“令人驚愕的”披風時寫道，“時尚界幾乎驚呆了”；《時代》(Time)雜誌認爲這位歌手搶盡風頭。
Yet Ms. Guo isn’t the first Chinese-born designer to create a media meltdown with a spectacular design. The “X-Men” star Fan Bingbing wore a bright yellow dragon dress by Laurence Xu to the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, and The Hollywood Reporter wrote that it “launched her into the style stratosphere.” “Sensational!” the website Red Carpet Awards proclaimed.
不過，郭培不是第一位通過驚人設計引起媒體轟動的中國設計師。2010年，曾出演《X戰警》(X-Men)的范冰冰身穿許建樹設計的明黃色龍袍出席戛納電影節。《好萊塢記者報》(The Hollywood Reporter)寫道，這件衣服“讓她一舉成爲頂級時尚明星”。紅地毯頒獎網站讚揚說：“美極了！”The dress got so much attention, in fact, that the actress Qin Hailu complained publicly that Ms. Fan was using the dress to cast herself as China’s leading lady (a charge that Ms. Fan denied), and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum ultimately snapped it up for its permanent collection. Now, that dress and two Guo Pei designs are part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Costume Institute exhibition, “China: Through the Looking Glass.”
范冰冰的龍袍引起強烈反響，以至於女演員秦海璐公開抱怨說，範是利用那條裙子塑造自己是中國影后的假象（範否認了這一指責）。倫敦的維多利亞與艾伯特博物館(Victoria & Albert Museum)最終把它變成自己的永久收藏。如今，那件龍袍和郭培設計的兩件服裝都在大都會藝術博物館時裝學院的新展覽“中國：鏡花水月”(China:Through the Looking Glass)上展出。
Juxtaposed against a dragon dress made by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, Mr. Xu’s gown highlights the different ways contemporary Chinese designers interpret their aesthetic history, and reflects the approach of a new wave of Asian creators who are drawing attention and acclaim for work that is defined by a modern balance between East and West.
許建樹的龍袍與湯姆·福特(Tom Ford)爲伊夫·聖羅蘭(Yves Saint Laurent)設計的龍袍並列放置，突顯出當代中國設計師對自己審美歷史的不同闡釋方法，展現了新一代亞洲設計師們的創作方式——他們通過創作展現東西方現代平衡的作品引起人們的注意和稱讚。Last year, for example, Yiqing Yin, the Chinese-born, Paris-based couturier who won the fashion designer of the year award at France’s prestigious Globes de Cristal in April, was named artistic director of the French fashion house Léonard. And in 2008, Qiu Hao won the International Woolmark Prize, thanks to the hand-woven fabrics he uses in his minimalist, architectural looks.
例如，去年4月，中國出生的巴黎女裝設計師殷亦晴獲得了法國著名的晶球獎(Globes de Cristal)年度最佳時裝設計師獎，之後被任命爲法國時裝公司萊昂納爾(Léonard)的藝術總監。2008年，邱昊憑藉建築風格的極簡主義手工織物獲得國際羊毛標誌大獎(International Woolmark Prize)。“With so many brands doing so many different things, and a country of 1.3 billion people, the Chinese designers don’t have to adapt to us in the West, and we’ll see this develop,” said Gemma A. Williams, the author of “Fashion China.” “They will learn from what we’ve done and put their own spin on it.”
“中國的品牌很多，做的事情也很不同，這個國家有13億人，所以中國設計師們不必去適應西方，我們將看到這種發展，”《時尚中國》(Fashion China)的作者傑瑪·A·威廉斯(Gemma A. Williams)說，“他們將從我們的經驗中吸取營養，然後加入自己的想法。”Witness Boundless, designed by Zhang Da, which gives classic padded, quilted agricultural coats a new spin by reimagining them in luxury cottons, soft pinks and modern geometrics. Or Chictopia, designed by Christine Lau, whose pop prints are drawn by hand rather than computer. Dooling Jiang of Digest Design also uses a traditional approach, in her case ancient cutting techniques, to create conceptual pieces like a landscape-inspired shirt-and-cropped-trouser combo; minimalist, wrapped jackets; or crinoline-esque paper-thin dresses.
例如，張達的品牌沒邊(Boundless)給經典夾棉農家棉衣注入新元素，用奢華棉花、柔和粉色和現代感幾何圖案加以改造。又如劉清揚的Chictopia，該品牌的流行印花是用手繪的，而不是用電腦設計的。消化設計(Digest Design)的設計師Dooling Jiang也是採用傳統方式，具體說來，是用古代裁剪方法創造概念化的服裝，比如以風景爲靈感的襯衣和七分褲套裝；極簡主義的裹式上衣；或襯裙式超薄連衣裙。As the Qingdao-born, London-based designer Huishan Zhang said, there’s more to Chinese design than dragons, phoenixes and the color red.
正如青島出生的倫敦設計師張卉山所說，中國設計不只是龍鳳和大紅色。“There is a really interesting feeling of these designers working with a blank slate, and much more willing to take risks with their designs,” Angelica Cheung, the editor in chief of Vogue China, wrote in an email. When the magazine started, in 2005, she struggled to find local designers to fill her pages, but is now, according to her, completely overwhelmed.
“這些設計師有一種非常有趣的感覺，他們是一張白紙，更願意在設計上冒險，”《Vogue》中國版主編張宇在郵件中寫道。2005年創辦中國版時，她努力尋找當地設計師填充頁面，但是她說現在中國的設計師數不勝數。The 32-year-old Ban Xiaoxue, for example, is one of China’s rising stars; he won the Asian final of the 2012 International Woolmark Prize the same year he introduced his namesake label. Based in Guangzhou, he uses ancient embroidery techniques to create modern floral and grid patterns on signature floating, feminine pieces, and is known for his fabric experimentation.
例如，32歲的廣州設計師班曉雪是中國的新秀設計師之一。2012年，他獲得國際羊毛標誌大獎的亞洲區冠軍之後，開創了自己的同名品牌。他在自己標誌性的飄逸陰柔服裝上運用古代刺繡技術創造現代花卉和網格圖案，他還以進行新面料實驗聞名。Then there is the philosophical approach of Evening, designed by the Beijing-based Yu Wanning, whose last collection, full of sculpted wool jackets with fur sleeves, cropped chunky knits, and long sheer skirts, was inspired by wu qin xi, a traditional form of exercise that uses the movement of animals to balance the body and mind. Not to mention the mix of classic Mandarin collars on sheer embroidered tops with cutout shoulders by Liu Min, 34, who trained at Viktor & Rolf; she also designs organza sweatshirts traced by rubber calligraphy.
北京設計師於惋寧的品牌Evening採用的是哲學方法。她的上一個系列充滿了有雕塑感的皮毛袖羊毛外衣、寬鬆超短針織衫，以及長款透明襯衫。這個系列的靈感來自五禽戲，它是中國的一種傳統鍛鍊方法，通過模仿五種動物的動作，實現身體和精神的平衡。還有34歲的劉旻，她把經典中式領與露肩透明刺繡上衣結合起來。她曾在維克托與羅爾夫時裝公司(Viktor & Rolf)接受培訓。她還設計過鑲有橡膠漢字書法的透明硬紗長袖運動衫。Chinese street-style stars like Leaf Greener, a stylist and former senior fashion editor of Elle China, are helping bring these Chinese designers to a broader audience, whether on Facebook and Instagram or on Chinese microblogging sites like Weibo and WeChat.
葉子(Leaf Greener)是造型設計師及《Elle》中國的前任資深時尚編輯，像她這樣的中國年輕時尚明星們常常會通過Facebook、Instagram或中國的微博和微信等微博客網站，幫助這些中國設計師們走向更廣泛的觀衆。“I mix and match,” Ms. Greener said. “At Giambattista Valli’s show in Paris this season, I wore a simple turtleneck sweater by new Chinese designer Chrisou by Dan with Calvin Klein skinny jeans, Céline coat and brown Louis Vuitton patterned ankle boots. It showed that Chinese fashion is not about the past but it’s about what’s happening right now.”
“我做一些混搭，”葉子說，“比如本季的巴黎詹巴迪斯塔•瓦利(Giambattista Valli)秀上，我就穿了一件簡單的高領衫，這是中國設計師歐陽丹(Chrisou by Dan)設計的，搭配卡爾文•克萊因(Calvin Klein)的瘦腿牛仔褲、賽琳(Céline)外套，以及棕色路易•威登(Louis Vuitton)圖案的踝靴。這表明中國時裝不僅僅是關於過去，也和當下發生的事件有關。”Christopher Bu, a former stylist who became a designer in 2010, attributes the fast success of his label to Weibo feeds that have showcased celebrities in his clothes, like Xu Fan and Fan Bingbing, who modeled his gold gown and geometric cape at the Met.
卜柯文(Christopher Bu)曾是造型師，2010年又當上了設計師，他說自己品牌的迅速成功歸功於微博。在微博上，經常有名人展示他的衣服，比如徐帆和范冰冰，范冰冰還在紐約大都會博物館慈善舞會上穿了他的金色長袍和幾何圖案斗篷。Similarly, Qiaoran Huang and Josh Hupper, whose hip street wear label, Babyghost, has been shown at New York Fashion Week for the last two seasons (they split their time between Manhattan and Shanghai), are using social media as a conduit for their brand.
黃悄然和喬希•哈珀(Josh Hupper)的時尚街頭潮牌Babyghost也曾連續兩季在紐約時裝週亮相，他倆一半時間住在曼哈頓，一半時間住在上海，同樣也使用社交媒體來推廣自己的品牌。“We’ve developed a sixth sense for customer reaction because of the immediacy of Qiaoran’s blog and Instagram,” Mr. Hupper said. “We are using the reaction to our products on Instagram to come up with product numbers so we are building a fan-based business.”
“我們發展出一種對消費者反應的直覺，因爲悄然的博客和Instagram都很有即時性，”哈珀說。“我們把產品照片放在Instagram上，然後根據消費者的反應來決定產品數量，這樣我們就建立起了一種以粉絲爲基礎的商業模式。”For Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Costume Institute show, this is a reflection of the future. “As the Chinese designers are so sophisticated in technology, and the future of fashion is technology, Chinese designers are well placed to take advantage of this, opening up the market and the parameters of fashion,” he said.
安德魯•博爾頓(Andrew Bolton)是時裝學院這場展覽的策展人，他認爲這種做法反映了未來的趨勢。“中國設計師們非常擅長技術，時尚的未來就是關乎技術，中國設計師們已經在這個領域內佔據了領先地位，有助於打入時裝界的市場與重要領域，”他說。Or, as Ms. Guo, who created the 280 handmade theatrical designs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, said via Skype from her cavernous Rose Studio in Beijing, “Everyone wants to learn about China, and fashion is the easiest way.”
郭女士曾爲2008年北京奧運會開幕式製作了280件手工禮服，她在北京寬敞高大的玫瑰坊工作室通過Skype接受了採訪，或許正如她所言，“所有人都想了解中國，時裝是最簡單的辦法。”“China: Through the Looking Glass” is at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through Aug. 16.
“中國：鏡花水月”在大都會博物館時裝學院舉行，截止到8月16日。
