CHINA: JAPANESE FASHION DESIGNER JUNKO KOSHINO COLLECTION

Описание: (24 Nov 1995) Jap/Mandarin/Nat

Top Japanese fashion designer Junko Koshino has celebrated her 10th year of fashion in China with a presentation of her latest collections in Beijing.

An increasing number of top industry names has been trying to take on the difficult Chinese market, which offers a welcome and lucrative change from Europe.

Japan's Junko Koshino has claimed the Chinese catwalks as her own.

Soft tones, contrasting textures, bold ideas have become her trade mark.

Koshino's latest presentation in Beijing was not only a cross-section from her collections for the next four seasons, but it also was a celebration.

Ten years ago, when she was considered only a second rate designer in Japan, she held her first revolutionary fashion show in Beijing.

It was revolutionary because at the time China was still dressed in Mao suits and haute couture was an alien term to the average resident.

Koshino launched a boutique in Beijing, the first Japanese designer to do so.

But after only one year she was forced to close because of lack of trade and because her prices were too high for most of her Chinese customers.

Things have taken a turn for the better though.

10 years after she first launched her line in China, the standard of living is rising and the country has seen the emergence of a middle class, willing to pay for haute couture.

And Koshino has decided to come back for a second try.

SOUNDBITE: (Japanese)
"This is not the matter to sell clothes in Paris or in China, I am selling my creation already in Paris in my shop Avenue Montaigne. It's impossible today to ignore Chinese people, one point two (b) billion, and the Chinese market. Now the times have changed, and these people also can buy fashion. For me it's a new concept, designing clothes for the Chinese people will also be a new theme for me"
SUPER CAPTION: Junko Koshino, Designer

Koshino has also decided to start up production in China, using local skills and materials.

She says it will allow her to drop the cost for the customer.

The National Garment Association has been eager to help the Japanese designer.

It realised that her designs will benefit the domestic industry.

SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin)
"The international exchanges in the area of fashion culture are in quick progress today in China. Through these exchanges we can bring some advanced design ideas into China from other countries and it helps also to widen the views of domestic designers."
SUPER CAPTION: Dong Bing Gen, General Manager China National Garment Corporation

More and more creators are looking at the Asian market for the fresh challenges it poses compared to Europe.

Like Koshino, they believe fashion in Europe has become almost a part of everyday life.

But China and its people are no ordinary customers - it's not really style they're after but status.

Haute couture allows the Chinese to form an identity, showing that in a country where 10 years ago all were dressed as equals, dreams and fantasy can come true.

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