This past Saturday the Italian clothing label Max & Co held its third annual Kunming fashion show at TCG Nordica. A boutique line under Italian fashion giant Max Mara fashion group, Max & Co presented its 2008 fall and winter collection to an audience of more than 200 spectators and local media.

Adding to the buzz around a major fashion group's show in Kunming was the presence of famous Chinese models Ge Huijie (葛荟婕) and Wang Yina (王伊娜).

Max & Co launched its first show two years ago in an effort to promote its store at the Gingko shopping center in downtown Kunming. In the ensuing two years, Max & Co's Kunming store has become one of the label's best-performing stores in China.

Max Mara fashion group PR Director Adele Lobasso is an Italian who first came to China as a foreign student in the 1980s and has worked at the firm's Beijing office for the past seven years. GoKunming sat down with Lobasso to learn more about the challenges of bringing ready-to-wear women's fashion from Italy to China.

GoKunming: The concept of high-end fashion is relatively new in China. What characteristics of the Chinese market have you most noticed since you began working for Max & Co?

Adele Lobasso: Although consumers from around the world like purchasing brand-name clothing, the Chinese wealthier classes showed an even more pronounced preference toward wearing well-known designer items. For example, in the early 90s, I saw quite a few Chinese women leaving the sticker on a new pair of sunglasses in an attempt to flaunt their purchase.

As far as taste is concerned, the majority of Chinese women dress more modestly than their European or North American counterparts, so we de-emphasize particularly revealing clothing when appealing to the Chinese market. Regional variations matter, however. It is difficult to compare fashion trends in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai with cities in the country's interior.

GK: Does Yunnan province - and Kunming in particular - display any fashion tendencies that are less evident in other parts of China?

AL: We discovered that our bright, floral clothing sold less well in Kunming, perhaps as a result that Yunnan people tend to associate such clothing with ethnic minority groups. In other parts of China, this trend seems less pronounced although in general we find that brighter colors sell better in other parts of the world than in China.

GK: What are some of the other regional differences in fashion that you have noticed during your time in China?

AL: Because of their taller physical stature, our customers in northern China are able to wear a wider variety of clothing than those in the south. For instance, certain types of trousers are far more popular in cities such as Beijing than they are in Guangzhou or Kunming. In addition, we have found that differences in skin color affect consumer choices. Few of our customers, for instance, wear brown or beige because they feel those colors do not flatter them as much. In terms of style, women in certain cities (such as Chengdu) tend to dress more femininely than in others.

GK: Who does Max & Co view as their target customer in China? How would you describe a "Max & Co woman"?

AL: Most of our Chinese customers are in their thirties and forties and earn a good income. A typical customer might be a woman who likes to dress casually but smartly, and one who wants attractive clothing for a variety of situations. A benefit of our store is the range of products on hand; for instance, a woman may come in looking to buy only a pair of trousers and emerge with a top and shoes as well.

GK: Does Max & Co plan to hold fashion shows in other southwestern Chinese cities?

AL: We had hoped to hold shows in Chengdu and Chongqing this year, but due to the earthquake we felt the timing wasn't appropriate. When we first opened in Kunming, we found it difficult attracting much business. It was only after the success of the fashion show that people began patronizing our store, and as a result we view these shows as a useful way to expose our clothing to a wider audience.

Images: Phoebe Zhang, Max & Co

Related article: Kunming attracting global luxury brands

This Saturday Italian clothing line Max & Co will unveil its 2008/2009 Fall/Winter collection to Kunming at TC/G Nordica. Max & Co has provided GoKunming with a limited number of invitations to the show, and we would like to share them with our readers.

To win your tickets to Saturday night's show, simply answer the following question:

---What Italian fashion house owns Max & Co?---

Please send all responses through our contact form. Winners will be announced this Friday and will receive two invitations each.

Update: Thank you to all respondents, all the passes have been given away and will be available to the winners from 7:30 Saturday night at the entrance to TC/G Nordica.

Image: Max & Co

The return of summer to Kunming has brought with it new colors and more revealing styles among the city's fashion-conscious young women. Women aged 20 to 30ish are sporting more natural and "earthy" tones, with shorter skirts and shorts than seen in previous summers. Many styles have carried over from last season, but there are some marked differences between this summer and the last.

We spoke with local clothing shop owners about new developments in women's fashion this summer in Kunming - here's what we found:

Tops: Short sleeve linens with ruffled sleeves and combinations of multiple layers - eg a plain or graphic t-shirt worn underneath a smaller tank top - are in this year. Other popular looks include button-down shirts and anything with stripes or polka dots.

Shorts: A new style this summer is exercise shorts worn with cute t-shirts. This is something that was not around last season and is truly a new development for Kunming. Cutoff shorts are popular again, but only if shorter than last year.

Skirts: Short skirts are definitely in this year and are significantly shorter than last year's style. This summer the rule of thumb for skirts seems to be the shorter the better.

Overalls: Overalls are back again this year - but whereas last year the legs went all the way down to the ankle or shin, this year they stop mid-thigh. Overall styles are also simpler than last year. Similar in appearance to overalls, shorts with suspenders are also popular.

Shoes: For shoes this year, the trend is to wear candy-colored (bright red, yellow, green, etc) or shiny metallic dress shoes matched with a skirt or jeans. For summer 2007 shoes must be single colored - no multi-colored dress shoes. That would be sooo last year. It's sandal season too, with more women opting for simple styles.

Stockings: Socks and stockings have become a very important aspect of young women's wardrobes this summer. The current trend is to wear a short skirt with a pair of dark Lycra stockings underneath the skirt and coming down to the mid-calf or ankles. This style was popular in Beijing a year ago, but has only this year taken hold in Kunming.

Kunming is one of China's most ethnically diverse major cities, featuring a unique mix of ethnic Han with Yi, Bai, Dai, Tibetans, Naxi and other minorities. Each of these ethnic groups have their own distinct language, culture and style.

In addition to local ethnic influences, Kunming is also absorbing outside ideas and styles from Southeast Asia, India, Japan and South Korea. Sitting at the crossroads of East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, Kunming is quickly becoming a unique melting pot of Asian styles.

22-year old Baoshan native A Ling is but one example of the young wave of Yunnan-born designers designing, producing and selling one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories in Kunming. Before living in Kunming, A Ling spent eleven years in Dehong prefecture near the border with Myanmar, where most people belong to the Dai ethnicity.

After teaching herself how to sew little more than a year ago, A Ling began making handbags and selling them to friends she knew through her day job working at a café in Kunming. Once revenue from her bags eclipsed her day job's pay, she decided to quit slinging coffee and devote all her efforts to making bags. Now she has a website promoting her bags - alingcrafts.com.

We sat down with A Ling to find out more about the inspiration behind her work:

GK: How did you end up making bags?

A Ling: I taught myself how to sew because I wanted to create beautiful things that I could use every day, so handbags were a natural choice for me. I really enjoy the process of turning an idea I have into a finished bag. I've already made more than 200 in the last year and have just started making computer bags.

GK: How do you find inspiration for your designs?

A Ling: Painting and music are big influences on my work. I paint at home a lot and I like to come up with bag designs when I'm painting, I also have to listen to music when I make bags. Also, even though I'm a Han Chinese, I grew up in a predominantly Dai environment - my designs have definitely been influenced by my experiences and exposure to their culture and art.

GK: What are your favorite places in Yunnan?

A Ling: I like living and working in Kunming as there are more opportunities here than anywhere else in Yunnan, but I also like Dali, it's a good place to chill out for a while.

GK: What would you like to be doing in five years?

A Ling: I still hope I'm making bags, hopefully by then I'll be able to open a store or maybe even a restaurant.

Image: alingcrafts.com

Yesterday we stumbled upon one of the more eyecatching stores in Kunming -- Bunny Clothing Store.

Bunny specializes in clothing for the young adult set. Baseball caps, t-shirts, pillows and other merchandise primarily feature designs by Shanghai-based design group The Thing (website broken in some browsers).

Much of the merchandise in Bunny has a dark sense of humor, one example being a t-shirt with an image of a pickup that has hit a bicycle -- 'Ctrl + Z' (the 'Undo' shortcut) is in the lower right of the image. Some goes for a little more shock value, as illustrated by Bunny's window display:

Although we didn't buy anything, it was good to see young Chinese designers trying to create something for themselves and other young Chinese.

Bunny's contact details:
Phone: (0871) 531 0223
Address: 4-5B Longxiang Jie (Longxiang Jie is the road running west from the intersection of Jianshe Lu and Wenlin Jie)