Chinese designer aims for gap in the market dominated by big brands

Grace Chen Yehuai [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"It needs time for the customers to mature and learn to appreciate the meaning of Haute Couture," she said.

Believing the huge potential in Chinese market, Chen once tried to bring the brand she worked for in the US to China but failed because the brand's style didn't fit Chinese women.

Most foreign luxury brands see huge potential in Chinese market but make few adaptions for Chinese customers.

"Most of the outfits don't fit Chinese people and some of my friends bring their Armani and Chanel to me to have them altered."

"Different from other products, clothing has strong social and humanistic nature. In this industry, domestic brands will always be better known than foreign ones." Chen said. "That's why many foreign luxury brands are focusing on selling accessories such as bags and jewelry to Chinese customers instead of clothes, which takes more time and analysis to cater."

"How can foreign brands occupy the Chinese market when they don't even bother to make special garment patterns to fit Chinese customers?"

Seeing an opportunity, Chen returned to China in 2009 and launched her own brand, Grace Chen. She spent the first two years in training tailors and researching market.

Her outfits feature traditional Chinese crafts, including embroidery and knitting with a mixed style of East and West, which was defined by her as "glamour and sophistication".

"There are no unique aesthetic standards for modern Chinese women. That's what I and my brand are trying to establish."

According to Chen, the first large group of women entering the "post big brand era" appeared in 2013, when she expended her business from Shanghai to other major cities in China including Beijing and Hangzhou. Most of her wealthy clients are successful women who have worked or studied overseas.

In 2014, Grace began reaching out to foreign markets. She was invited to Brussels, Moscow and Paris to showcase her works. She also became partners with a studio in Paris and welcomed her first foreign customer, a princess from Saudi Arabia.

Chen said her business outside China will also begin with women "on top of the pyramid". In June, she showed 50 dresses at London's Lancaster House. The catwalk show was opened by Lady Ella Mountbatten, a member of the Mountbatten clan and closed by Princess Olga Romanoff, a descendant of Tsar Nicholas II – the last emperor of Russia.

Chen expects to host personal runway shows twice every year in the future, one in China, the other one in a foreign country.

"First we want to make bespoke apparels for Chinese women all over the world and then we will try to attract foreign customers. The ultimate goal is to build a Chinese brand as famous as Armani and Chanel. "

Chen believes that in the next decade, the fastest growing point in the world's luxury market will be in China. "This is a good opportunity for us," Chen said.

"I have a clear advantage in knowing the rules of in western fashion industry and the need of Chinese women."