《南华早报》报道Grace Chen：永不设限的中国设计师

香港最大的英文报纸《南华早报》 (South China Morning Post) 近期研究并报道了 Grace Chen 独树一帜的时装发布和客户关系管理方式，形容大胆的 Grace Chen 为“永不设限的中国设计师”。

《南华早报》读者以政界和商界的高层人士为主，1903年11月创刊，至今已有约114年历史。

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Chinese fashion designers free to do things differently—— take Grace Chen’s catwalk show on a cruise ship and VIP shoot in Tasmania

在游轮上办秀，带 VIP 去塔斯马尼亚荒原拍大片

Grace Chen：不走寻常路的中国时装设计师

Jing Zhang

UPDATED: Wednesday, 9 Aug 2017, 7:00 AM

Distance from fashion mainstream gives Chinese designers freedom to market their lines in other ways, such as taking wealthy clients on a private fashion shoot overseas or showing aboard a liner, as couturier Grace Chen did recently.

与国际主流时尚圈的物理距离，反倒给了中国设计师更多寻找适合自身发展之路的自由。就像设计师 Grace Chen 的最近尝试——带着VIP客户去海外拍摄时尚大片，在遨游东海的七星邮轮上办一场前所未有的时装大秀……

Trying to fathom the constant evolution of the Chinese fashion scene can be daunting. But for the designers and power players shaping it, the scene’s distance from global trends can be liberating, and lucrative.

中国时尚圈正发生着斗转星移的发展变化，想一眼看懂其中规律仿若天方夜谭。但不可否认是，中国设计师和拥有时尚话语权的人士的的确确正在不断影响和改变着这个圈子。与国际时尚圈间的物理距离正让中国时尚圈不断释放出越来越宽广的自由度，进而找到前人未曾尝试过的发展和盈利之路。

Take Shanghai-based couturier Grace Chen, for example, who does not show at Paris Couture Week (though she’s planning on applying in due time) but has built one of China’s most successful couture houses in just a few short years. Unhindered by being locked into a Western couture system, she’s thinking outside the box when it comes to how and where she holds her shows – and how she engages with her clients.

拿扎根上海的设计师 Grace Chen 举例，她和团队在短短几年时间内将品牌发展成为了中国最成功的高级定制时装品牌之一，其中一个原因就在于她敢于不受西方时尚体系禁锢、不按套路出牌。比如今年7月初，Grace Chen 并没有按照原定计划在巴黎高定周上办秀，而是选择在一艘七星邮轮上发布最新系列，她按照自己摸索的规律安排时装秀的时间、地点，用创新方式维护品牌与客户之间的关系。

△ Grace Chen 2017 初秋系列《潮汐》海上发布

Beyond her many shows in Beijing, Shanghai and the occasional overseas location, there was a recent 10-day private trip to Tasmania for a handful of VIP clients. She brought along a team that included a photographer, hair and make-up artists, and they did professional shoots of the women in her couture gowns against the backdrop of Tasmanian landscapes. Part holiday, part customer engagement, part client fashion shoot, it was a clever and innovative way of “sharing an amazing experience” between couturier and customer.

Grace Chen 此前曾在多次北京、上海和海外举办过大秀。特别的是，前几个月，她为数位尊贵的 VIP 客户策划了一场为期十天的塔斯马尼亚时尚之旅，随行的还有专业摄影师、发型师、化妆师。穿上 Grace Chen 高定礼服的客户们与塔斯马尼亚的壮美风景融为一体，留下了一张张精美大片。这个结合了高端度假、客户互动及时尚拍摄的模式，聪明又标新立异，是设计师与客户之间“分享美好体验”的一种独特方式。

△Grace Chen为客户在塔斯马尼亚拍摄的大片

“My good friend owns a high-end travel agency, we share a lot of interests and she’s also a really good client of mine。” says Chen of how she got the idea for the trip and brought it to fruition.

 “我的好朋友拥有一家高端旅行定制公司，她也是我一位非常重要的客户，我们拥有许多共同爱好。”Grace Chen 告诉记者她如何产生并实现这个想法。

“Through the trip, we became much closer than just client and couturier, or even regular friends .”

“通过塔斯马尼亚之旅，我们变得更加亲密，我们的关系已经超越了设计师与客户，甚至超越了普通朋友的关系。”

——Grace Chen

“We talked about doing something together. At first it was the idea of a fashion show in an interesting, remote location, but that proved very difficult logistically.

“我们一起碰撞出这次时尚之旅，一开始只是想带着客户去别处去远方去办一场别开生面的时尚秀，但这个想法并不容易实现。

“Then I thought of doing beautiful professional photographs with our clients in those locations. She mentioned that she went to Tasmania in November last year and that it was a stunning area of natural scenery – purple skies and so on – so we thought the gowns would look amazing there.”

“然后我们想到用专业、时尚的影像来记录我们这次对美的探索和记录。我朋友提到她去年11月曾去过塔斯马尼亚，那是一个有着紫色天空的纯美乐土，我们一致认为如果在那里穿上高定礼服拍摄大片，一定会碰撞出前所未有的美。”

△ Grace Chen为客户在塔斯马尼亚拍摄的大片

As so often happens in China, the pair quickly made a plan, and both parties invited some of their most faithful clients.

中国人的效率就是这样，两位创始人一拍即合后就会开始着手计划。很快，双方都邀请到了各自最忠实的客户参与这次旅行。“It was a bit difficult at first, as no one really understood what we were doing,” Chen says

“这个计划的启动初期有些困难，因为没有人真正明白我们要做什么。”Grace Chen 回忆道。

Trips of this nature, that combine fashion, professional photography and travel, are a new thing – and hardly normal for a couture house, whether in China or one of the established fashion capitals. Chen says the experience surprised all of them, and that many clients were reduced to tears when they saw themselves in the photos.

这场旅行融合了时尚、专业摄影和旅行，这对时装品牌来说是一个全新的不同寻常的举措，不论在中国或在任何一个久负盛名的国际时尚之都，这都是首创。这次体验出乎所有参与者的最初意料，“很多客户看到照片中的自己时都喜极而泣。”

△ Grace Chen 为客户在塔斯马尼亚拍摄的大片

“They were really moved, it meant a lot to them ... and through the trip, we became much closer than just client and couturier, or even regular friends.”

The unexpected nature of the event also helped the clients understand more about Grace Chen as a label, the designer says. It’s a way of giving her wealthy clients a different, deeper feeling about her brand and the legacy of bespoke couture fashions. In such a beautiful natural environment, Chen wanted to create something special, even profound.

“她们都被感动了，这次旅行对她们而言意义重大！通过此次旅行，我们的关系也变得更为亲密，超越了客户和设计师，甚至超越了普通朋友的关系。”

在这么美丽的自然风光下，Grace Chen 还希望创造出一些特殊的、意义更为深远的东西，“这次旅行也帮助客户们更好地了解到我的品牌，我想用这样一种不同寻常的、更为沉浸式的体验让客户了解我的品牌理念和高定时装的价值。”

△ Grace Chen 为客户在塔斯马尼亚拍摄的大片

“I think we are the first one in China to do this,” she says. Two months after that trip, she followed it up with what might be another first for a Chinese couturier: a catwalk show on a luxury cruise liner. On the top deck of the cruise ship the Genting Dream, and next to a swimming pool, models debuted her newest collection one evening during a five-day voyage.

“我想我们在中国是先驱。”设计师这样评价这次实验。塔斯马尼亚之行两个月后，GraceChen 又迈出了中国设计师的另一个第一步——在一艘行驶在东海海面上的七星邮轮上发布了时装秀。五天行程中的一个傍晚，在云顶集团星梦邮轮的顶层甲板上，模特们在泳池旁展示了 Grace Chen 最新系列。

△ Grace Chen 2017 初秋系列《潮汐》海上发布

This collection, called Tide, had an ocean theme. “The clothing was much looser, and of course nautical in its colours, but conceptually it was about conquering the up and downs of life,” Chen says.

这个系列拥有一个以海洋为主题的名字——《潮汐》。“这个系列以现代都市女性如何驾驭生活中的起起落落为设计理念。和以前的作品相比，《潮汐》系列的衣服更为松弛，颜色上自然以海洋作为参照。”Grace Chen 说。 

There are no limitations. That’s part of the mystery.

 “永不设限，这是创意的秘诀。”

——Grace Chen

The cruise show occurred around the same time as Paris’ Couture Week, yet still attracted a lot of attention from Chinese media because it was such a change from the shows in the French capital. “Just the idea of doing it on a cruise ship show blew a lot of people away,” the designer says.

邮轮秀举办时正逢巴黎高定周之际，尽管不在巴黎办秀，但因为形式与众不同，Grace Chen 的海上秀同样受到了中国媒体的广泛关注。“ 单是在邮轮上办一场时装秀这个想法，就足够给很多人留下深刻印象。”设计师说。

Being different for Chen is paying off. Her sales are growing rapidly and the company’s expansion plans are impressive. Of course, that’s not to say she doesn’t crave recognition by institutions such as the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, which determines which fashion houses’ shows are included in the official couture schedule in Paris.

敢于与众不同也让 Grace Chen 收获了良好回报，品牌销售额涨势凶猛，公司的扩张计划令人期待。当然，这并不意味着她不渴望得到巴黎高级时装联合会的认可，进入巴黎高定周官方日程。

“Of course we want to be accepted by the best organisation in the world,” she says, “but that doesn’t limit us. If invited, we could do a Paris show but still keep doing other things.”

“我当然希望能够被全世界最高级最专业的时装组织接纳。但我不会被它限制。”GraceChen 表示，“如果能够被邀请进入巴黎高定周日程，除了在巴黎办秀外，我们还会做很多其他的事情。”

In the meantime, Chen says she has many other things in the pipeline.

“There are no limitations.That’s part of the mystery – it gives people a sense of anticipation.”

Grace Chen 同时透露，品牌还有很多其他事情箭在弦上。“永不设限——这是产生创意的源泉，也是始终让人保持期待的奥秘。”

△ 时装设计师 Grace Chen