Wang Tao: Taking 'China Chic' global

The minimalist style makes the clothes functional for her target customers. “Easy to put on and easy to mix and match, they are for businesswomen who don’t want to spend a ton of time thinking about what to wear.”

Speaking to reporters and assistants backstage before her show in last fall, she seemed calm and unruffled. “I’ve been working on runways for nearly 20 years, and I’m used it,” she said. “I want to know what people think of my work.”

“It’s up to the buyers to decided if it’s an international brand,” she said. “Many Chinese designers have walked onto international stages and gotten a lot of press coverage, but nobody buys their clothes. To me that means nothing.”

As for fashion in China, Wang worries that many Chinese designers are bound by so-called “China Chic”.

“Too often Chinese designers think ‘China Chic’ means Chinese ethnic style or there has to be a dragon or a phoenix,” she said. “If we want to make it on the international stage, we have to liberate ourselves from the stereotypes.”

“Chinese culture is not what you can buy in the stores at the entrance to the Great Wall. It’s so much more complicated,” Wang continued. “The true ‘China Chic’ should have an international vision.”

“China needs soft power. Soft power is not just a grand show,” she said. “It takes a lot of hard work. It’s a craft that takes time to refine.”

Wang lives between London and Shanghai and travels to the Big Apple twice a year. She’s married to a Briton and has two kids.

Wang rarely talks about her personal life. “I don’t want people to focus their attention on me. I want them to like my clothes. I want them to buy my clothes.”

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com