About a year ago I visited Chengdu, home to millions of people, the sizzling Sichuan Hotpot and a world renowned Panda Breeding Centre, but it wasn’t just this that made Chengdu stand out from other cities in China.
It was my first time out of Europe, and in all honesty I didn’t even think about what fashion would be like in China, I suppose I underestimated this, assuming naively that European fashion couldn’t be beaten. So, imagine my surprise when, walking through the busy streets of Chengdu, I had my eyes opened- these women were dressed immaculately and to this day I wish I had taken photographs!
Office workers walked the busy streets in brightly coloured full skirts, some decorated with even floral or polka dot prints, whilst the more casual wore basic tees with English and even French phrases splashed across them. When I visited last year, the women of Chengdu were showing a modern, feminine take on fashion.
So when we think of fashion in Asia, we think of Seoul and Tokyo, but it won’t take long for the likes of big Chinese cities to develop themselves into a unique space for fashion inspiration. In fact, I have read more and more of how it is growing into it’s own, with more sporty, androgynous looks pushing to the forefront.
The Style Sleuth 