CHINA DAILY

Fashion designer Shangguan Zhe has been considered one of the most creative young talents in the country's fashion industry.

The first collection came out at the end of 2007, which contained about 20 looks. This brand, according to Shangguan, has targeted consumers between 20 and 30. It includes normal shirts, tees and pants for daily wear. The designer focused on using eco-friendly materials, which makes the clothes very comfortable. Each item was priced between 300 and 1,000 yuan.

Due to a lack of funds, Shangguan's partners decided the collection would only be sold on taobao.com, the top Chinese online customer-to-customer marketplace. This turned out to be very successful, and since then, the new designer decided to pursue this career path.

Shangguan says he has not met big obstacles along the way. Over the past six years, Ze has developed into a well-established independent designer label. Shangguan has also caught attention from the country's fashion elite.

In 2010, Vogue China launched The Vogue Talents Corner, which sells products from designers it rates as the most creative young talents in China. Shangguan was chosen for the new platform.

Shangguan says Ze is commercially successful now. Though not revealing specifics of Ze's sales, he says the brand has been growing in sales during the past six years, and it has met his expectations. In the future, he will focus more on the new higher-end brand Sankuanz.

"I will not do haute couture, and will put my effort on Sankuanz ready-to-wear. Now, I don't have financial burdens, so for me, the only difficulty is to find inspiration for my design," he says.

Sankuanz, after the buzz from Shanghai Fashion Week, is popular among the top fashionistas. Buyers from well-established shopping malls around the world have purchased garments from this collection. Now they are available in Joyce in Hong Kong and Rei Kawakubo in Japan.

Shangguan says he likes Kawakubo. "Her creations are simple, elegant, yet very imaginative," he says.

As the night falls, Shangguan leaves the hotel pub for the award ceremony. When he walks through the bar, many businessmen with serious faces stop chatting and look at him, or the weird robe he is wearing. Like it or not, Shuangguan is a magnet for attention.

Contact the writer at gantian@chinadaily.com.cn.

We recommend:

Heart-warming Laba porridge	National intangible heritage: row lantern in NW China	Top 10 China entertainment news in 2013