中国设计走向世界

“Made in China” is having its moment now—and its a fashionable one.

The story of Chinese fashion began in 2011 when Feiyue and Huili， both Chinese sneaker brands， suddenly gained international attention. Their products were seen on models all over the world. In September 2018， Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning was at the New York Fashion Week with new designs—hoodies and jackets decorated with Chinese characters.

Shaun Rein， managing director of China Market Research Group said that the latest Chinese brands are no longer promoting themselves on the basis of their cheapness. He told CNN， “They are impressive and ambitious and can go head to head with foreign brands.”

And this ambition may be due to the fact that Chinas young people are now more confident about their own culture. Western culture doesnt have the instant appeal to the young that it once had.

“Todays young people in China are passionate about Chinese cultural elements，” Jin Qu， vice president of YOHO， an urban clothing shopping website in China， said at a cultural festival in November， 2018. “They like these elements printed on their clothes， even the brand image of laoganma—the famous chili sauce in China—which was once seen as outside of fashion. But now young people are proud of these Chinese symbols.”

In fact， many celebrities in the West now have an interest in Chinese cultural elements in fashion. US singer Rihanna， for example， wore a shiny and heavily embroidered yellow gown to the 2015 Met Gala to match the galas theme “China： Through the Looking Glass”. The gown was designed and made by Chinese designer Guo Pei.

“We have to move from manufacturing to service and creativity，” Chinese-American architect and designer Aric Chen once told The Financial Times. “We want to replace the words ‘Made in China with ‘Designed in China.”

“中国制造”如今开始崭露头角——在时尚界占领一席之地。

中国潮流的故事始于2011年，当时，中国运动鞋品牌“飞跃”和“回力”忽然间获得全球关注。世界各地的模特都开始穿上这些品牌的产品。2018年9月，中国运动品牌“李宁”在纽约时装周上发布了新产品——印有汉字的卫衣和夹克。

中国市场研究集团总经理雷小山表示，新晋中国品牌都不再以“廉价”作为卖点。他在接受CNN采访时表示：“它们表现出众，雄心勃勃，能与外国品牌一较高下。”

而此番雄心或許源于中国年轻人对中华文化有了更强的自信心。西方文化不再像过去那样，能立刻吸引年轻人的关注。

“现在的中国年轻人，他们非常热爱中国的文化元素。”中国都市购物网站YOHO集团副总裁靳曲在2018年11月的一场文化活动上表示，“他们喜欢这些中国元素印在衣服上，甚至中国驰名的辣椒酱品牌老干妈都被印在了衣服上，以前大家觉得‘土，但现在的年轻人为这些中国符号自豪。”

事实上，许多西方名人如今也对时尚界中的中国文化元素很感兴趣。比如，美国歌手蕾哈娜在2015年的纽约大都会艺术博物馆慈善舞会上穿了一件有大量刺绣的金黄色礼服，以呼应当年的主题“中国：镜花水月”。这件礼服由中国设计师郭培设计制作。

“我们要从制造业转向服务业和创意行业。”美籍华裔建筑师及设计师陈伯康在接受《金融时报》采访时曾如此表示，“我们想将‘中国制造变为‘中国设计。”

Word Study

hoodie /'h?d?/ n. 连帽衫; 带帽夹克

appeal /?'pi?l/ n. 吸引力;感染力;魅力

The prospect of living in a city holds little appeal for me.

embroider /?m'br??d?（r）/ v. 刺绣