XINHUA PHOTOS
“Made in China” is having its moment now – and it’s a fashionable one.
“中国制造”如今开始崭露头角 —— 在时尚界占领一席之地。
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. Last year, Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning was at the New York Fashion Week in September with new designs – hoodies and jackets decorated with Chinese characters.
国潮的故事始于2011年，当时，中国运动鞋品牌“飞跃”和“回力”忽然间获得了全球关注。世界各地的模特都开始穿戴上了它们的产品。中国运动品牌“李宁”去年9月在纽约时装周上带来了新设计 —— 印有汉字的卫衣和夹克。
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.”
中国市场研究集团董事总经理雷小山表示，近期中国品牌都不再以“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。”
And this ambition may be due to the fact that China’s young people are now more confident about their own culture. Western culture doesn’t have the instant appeal to the young that it once had.
而此番雄心或许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立刻将年轻人吸引过去。
“Today’s 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. “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.”
“现在的年轻人，他们对中国的文化、文字等等，这种相关衍生的元素都非常的热爱，”中国都市购物网站YOHO!集团副总裁靳曲在去年11月的一场文化活动上表示。“现在你看到很多中国文字印在衣服上，大家同样很喜欢。包括老干妈这些东西印在衣服上，以前可能大家都觉得是“土”；但现在这一代年轻人，他们发自内心为这些中国符号自豪。”
In fact, many celebrities in the West now have an interest in Chinese cultural elements in fashion. US singer Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty, for example, wore a shiny and heavily embroidered yellow gown to the 2015 Met Gala to match the gala’s theme “China: Through the Looking Glass”. The gown was designed and made by Chinese designer Guo Pei.
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上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。
“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’.”
“我们要从制造业转向服务业和创意行业，”美籍华裔建筑师、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’。”
