It's Official Vogue Just Named This Surprising City The World's Next Fashion Capital

According to a recent article in Vogue, Xiamen, China has been named a new fashion capital for its collection of avant-garde designers who call the southeast urban island home. With a lush green landscape and seaside views, the tucked away island offers Chinese designers a peaceful alternative to the cosmopolitan (and congested) cities of Shanghai and Beijing. But who are the essential designers who put Xiamen on the fashion map?

Ms MIN

Min Liu of Ms MIN and an LVMH Prize finalist, calls the pace of life in Xiamen relaxing and conducive to focus. She tells Vogue, “It’s a very nice environment to work in, and the city somehow breathes creativity.”

晚安🌃 #amoy #xiamen
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Sankuanz

Shangguan Zhe of the menswear label Sankuanz, which is rising to Vetements-style cult status, is another LVMH Prize finalist who calls Xiamen home.

YIFANG WAN

After graduating from London’s Central Saint Martins, Wan Yifang, started her personal label YIFANG WAN, a minimalist, structurally clean, utilitarian line devoid of pretension. This emerging designer is a Xiamen native.

Deepmoss

Deepmoss’s Dido Liu, known for her “introverted couture,” graduated alongside Yifang from Central Saint Martins, and began showing Deepmoss at Shanghai Fashion week soon thereafter.

Along with her Xiamen compatriots, these designers have been dubbed Xiamen’s homegrown Antwerp Six. The title refers to the school of Belgian designers to emerge from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–81. The Antwerp Six includes Ann Demeulemeester and Dries van Noten, and is famous for establishing Antwerp as a fashion locale with revolutionary design concepts.

About the author

Jill Di Donato

Fashion Editor

Jill is a New York native who holds a BA in Literature from Barnard College, and an MFA in writing from Columbia University. She is the author of the novel Beautiful Garbage (She Writes Press, 2013) about the downtown Manhattan art and fashion scene in the 1980s. A former staff writer for The Huffington Post and Bustle, Jill comes to Culture Trip after working with Refinery 29, Vice, Salon, Paste Style, Los Angeles Times, Nylon, Shopify, Autre, and producing content for emerging fashion labels. She teaches classes about fashion and culture at Barnard College and The Fashion Institute of Technology. Her prized possessions are her Gucci fanny pack, vintage rocker t-shirts, and her grandmother's collection of costume jewelry. She's always on the lookout for a gem-encrusted turban.