In the marble-coated shopping malls of Taipei, the store signs read like an A to Z of the world's most famous designers and labels: Armani, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Zegna.
But despite rising interest from the West in the traditions and designs of the East -- Giorgio Armani visited China in April and is expected to visit Taiwan in January to promote a line of boutiques -- Taiwanese designers have yet to break into the top end of the fashion world.
PHOTO: AP
Some are wondering if they really want to.
PHOTO: AP
Taiwanese designers are simply walking on a different catwalk from Armani, said Jenny Chen (陳宜), editor-in-chief of fashion magazine Madame Figaro's local edition.
"The top end is dominated by famous international brands, with domestic designers trying to make an impression lower down," Chen said. "Local office ladies cannot afford a Chanel ensemble, so the local designers all have their own faithful clientele."
The magazine writer, who studied design in New York, said diversity was the way forward for Taiwanese fashion designers. "When different types of fashions are available, people still will go and buy," Chen said.
"Designers should not narrowly focus on purely oriental designs, any style is welcome," she added.
But others say Taiwan's fashion industry should still stick to its cultural roots if it wants to achieve overseas success.
"Taiwanese designers can go on to the international scene by uniting East and West," fashion critic and Vogue columnist Rosalie Huang said. "The refined Oriental elements are the use of coloring and handicrafts."
One designer who is taking that lesson to heart is Fu Tzu-ching (傅子菁). Her embroidery-loaded designs even became the subject of an exhibition at a Taiwanese history museum.
"Local fashionistas have traded their blind adoration of foreign brands for open-mindedness, with positive results for Taiwanese designers," Fu said. "Taiwanese consumers travel overseas now and can compare products, in the past they lacked information."
As she is stitching clothes in her studio decorated with Chinese artifacts, Fu is upbeat about the possibilities for local talent. "The young dare to try new things. There are no limits for new fashions," she said.
Fu is less interested in going international and taking on the major brands on their own terrain. She's planning a more modest step, moving into men's clothing.
Taiwanese shoppers are echoing her optimism.
"The quality and style of the clothes matter the most to me, but if the designer is Taiwanese, I will be more likely to buy it," said Veronica Wu, 33, an accountant looking for sweaters at the Taipei 101 shopping mall.
Designers Stephane Dou (竇騰璜) and Chang Lee Yugin (張李玉菁) say international fame for a Taiwanese designer will be difficult to achieve, but not impossible.
"Director Ang Lee (李安) became a global star with his movie, so why can't the same success happen to a fashion designer," Dou said, referring to Lee's the Academy Award-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The island's designers need to show originality and creativity, Dou said, but he acknowledges the problems. "It's difficult to create something that has not been seen before," he said.
But Madame Figaro's Chen says Taiwanese designers shouldn't worry about their European counterparts, because fashion is a two-way street.
"The Asian market is influencing Europe now, because Asians live by a faster rhythm, and are interested and curious about new trends," she said.
Armani's visits to Shanghai and Hong Kong last April created a stir in the region.
But Chen believes that when Armani comes to Taiwan to promote his new boutiques next January, the vast majority of Taiwan's fashion world will feel trepidation and admiration, rather than fear.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard