Catshanghai

I heard a funny story over the weekend about European exporters copying a Shanghai based fashion designer.

We enjoyed hearing our friend Cho Cho tell us about a European customer who bought some of her clothes from her shop. Cho Cho runs the Neither Nor label and she has a few shops in and near Changle Lu. Most customers buy for themselves, but this customer bought the clothes as samples to copy and export to Europe. She hired another designer to make and export the clothes, but the customer didn’t know that she had subcontracted one of Cho Cho’s friend. Most fashion designers would be miffed to find out about people copying their ideas to make expensive clothes for overseas markets, but Cho Cho thought this was quite funny. I sensed she was even flattered to the extent that she offered to help her friend work on the order by supplying design patterns and fabric.

Usually you hear stories about Chinese companies lifting ideas, trademarks and IP from European, Japanese and American designers. I think of Meizu’s HiPhone, which bears a strong resemblence to a certain famous Apple handset (See this story). It’s refreshing to see the situation reversed. I look forward to seeing Chinese designs and innovations making inroads overseas. It’s bound to happen in the next few decades. Cho Cho’s anecdote shows that European designers are already starting to take note of Chinese fashion.