Designer Grace Chen seeks Chinese fashion identity through couture

Finding China's place in the world of fashion is a goal for designer Grace Chen, who presented her latest couture collection in quite a surprising way.

At the Beijing Hotel, models splashed along a water-soaked runway on Tuesday, as part of couturier Grace Chen's latest spectacular.

Chen, as a U.S.-educated designer, has been quietly and successfully establishing her vision for the distinctive style of a modern CHINESE woman for years. This time she's drawn inspiration from CHINESE poems, and created an elegant collection that seeks to find serenity in this chaotic world.

Models display a new creation designed by Grace Chen during the China Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2019 in Beijing, China, on March 26, 2019. /VCG Photo

"It's the poet called Wang Wei from Tang Dynasty (618-907). People say he's the one who depicts 'Jing' or serenity in the best way," Grace Chen shared with CGTN.

"I want to use his poetry as the inspiration of this collection and we actually did it literally (with the water-soaked runway). In order to present serenity or some kind of calmness in your mind, you need to stir it first and then see how that can calm you. I think that's how you deal with the world every day."

Chen graduated from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) in 1996, as one of the first students from theCHINESE mainland to do so.

She then spent nearly 15 years in the U.S., working for Halston in New York and Tadashi Shoji in Los Angeles, where she designed red carpet gowns for the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Helen Mirren.

A model displays a new creation designed by Grace Chen during the China Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2019 in Beijing, China, on March 26, 2019. /VCG Photo

With such experience under her belt, Chen returned to China 10 years ago to establish her own brand through her couture atelier and studio in Shanghai.

As Chen says quite often, China is experiencing a period of lost "fashion identity," caused by the desire for Western brands. She says she wants to bring her unique and authentic points of view to the mix.

"I think fashion is how you see the world or how you would like the world to see you. So that's fashion. It's a lifestyle," Chen said. "For me, it's more about finding the common value for everyone. So until you find that you will be accepted and respected as a fashion designer. Even though today this Serenity collection is paying respect to CHINESE culture, we want to make it in a very worldly way. Like even people living in Africa will see it in themselves. That's what a fashion designer needs to do."

For the past 20 years, the China Fashion Week has been pivotal in witnessing and developing the country's rapidly growing fashion scene. As home-grown designers continue to leave their mark on international catwalks, it's also fostering a cross-cultural exchange between designers and brands.