October 10th, 2019, by Casey Hall & Zoe Suen
" The same sentiment is echoed by Felicie Corre-Le Blan, a former long-time employee of Hermès who came to China with the storied French house before striking out to launch the fashion and lifestyle brand Chinoises, which collaborates with Miao artisans to create embroidered silk jackets, retailing for around $430.
Since opening its e-commerce site in May, the brand has garnered famous fashion-world fans such as Julia Restoin Roitfeld.
“As a consumer, I want something that lasts forever, not just for a season. I suppose the idea is to maybe promote craftsmanship that people don’t know about, promote minority people, but also make something that you will keep for a long time and that will not be out of fashion in a few months,” Corre-Le Blan said.
Though she believes most Chinese consumers are not yet actively seeking out traditional minority handicrafts (Chinoises’ customers overwhelmingly come from Europe), they certainly seem to appreciate efforts to support them, particularly when it’s international brands who are making the effort to discover and promote them.
“[The reaction from Chinese people] has been such a good surprise,” Corre-Le Blan said. “They say: ‘Thank you for showing me this, thank you for showing our crafts.’”
Comments