THE CLUB IS CONQUERING A NEW CONTINENT… ARE YOU READY?
Here we are. After one and a half years from the beginning of LDC we are now ready for a new adventure aiming to expand our horizons and trying to make an impact as far as China.
Yes, that’s real; we are going to Shanghai from the 18th to the 20th of October, taking part in Shanghai Fashion Weekend and sharing fantastic brand stories from UK and China for our LDC x Responsible and Stylish Fashion and Transport with NIO evening of the 21st of October.
Luckily, we are not alone: six of our brands decided to join Fashion Weekend with us, taking part in one of our most amazing experiences LDC has ever made.
We started from Europe – flying back and forth between London and Milan – and we made our name explaining to people who we are, our support for independent designers, connecting people with stories behind the sustainable products and accessories, all through digital and offline platforms including our famous pop up stores.
Sustainable fashion and individual empowerment have always been characters playing a main role in our principles and that made us who we are. Finding brands and designers who share our same ethic is key for us to continue growing. And it turns out communities all around the world want to be part of this platform and voice.
The brands that will fly with us are: Ankleco, Conflict of Ego, Hidden Beneath Underwear, Skylence, Tokkou and Fyodor Golan.
The first brand to be introduced is Ankleco. Inspired by the Eosphoros and Hesperus, it takes inspiration by these two distinct divinities – the first is the dawn-star and the second the star of dusk – which have been later identified as the same. This idea led to the remake of genderless silhouettes that extend the concept of the stars to be non-binary. To make all of this be real, the brand follows a unique and timeless line to create shoes made with sustainable materials.
Thanks to its minimal and secure shapes, and thanks to its genderless approach to footwear, Ankleco will be the brand to make LDC Chinese voyage stronger and determinate. We asked designer Dawn why she has joined LDC for the first time in Shanghai.
“LDC is a great platform for designers with a transparent and ethical focus which is something we strongly believe in when we first started Ankleco's first eco collection. LDC has huge marketing and retail support which helps a new brand like us start selling physically as Ankleco, now only available online. Being with LDC allows us to have a chance to meet many other designers and audiences from different countries to share their idea and talk about sustainable fashion. For Ankleco, going global is not just selling internationally as we make our shoes available by shipping worldwide. Being global means it will allow us to share the story across a wider audience and make more people understand our mission of making footwear ethically and sustainably. It is very exciting to bring our shoes to different countries, to let people touch our shoes and try our shoes. It would be great to hear voices and thoughts about conscious options. We want people to ‘Walk the Walk’ — to be able to walk with eco, stylish and comfortable footwear.”
Discover more about Ankleco here.
Secondly, Conflict of Ego shown their collection in London across various of our pop up locations.. Conflict of Ego is a conscious clothing brand that reveals itself as a brand who is made for feminist fashion. Their latest collection “In Motion”, available in our Shanghai pop up, follows the most sustainable approach they have ever had. They have been working hard to reduce their carbon footprint and used silk and 100% organic cotton for their collection. We talked with the designer Alann Wain, who shared her thoughts about the journey she is going to make with LDC to Shanghai.
It has been interesting to see how designers interpret this opportunity to be seen in China by a new clientele, and how they see benefits in it. For this reason, Alanna told us that the Chinese market has always been on the radar for the brand since they started in 2016. As they already have lots of clients living in China and Hong Kong, for them it is an amazing opportunity to be able to be there and meet customers as they do in London. As mentioned, Conflict of Ego is inspired by socio-political movements, especially female empowerment and female equality, that’s why with the new emergence of female entrepreneurs in China, it feels like a great time for them to be there.
“Going global feels like natural progression and not as scary as it could be. But with the support of the LDC community, I feel it decreases the risk without decreasing the quality”.
.
Discover more about Conflict Of Ego here.
To make the range of brands more various, Hidden Beneath Underwear is jumping on board for this upcoming pop up. Handcrafted in the UK, this is a minimal underwear brand for both men and women. They look at the future as romantic, instead of doing it for the past. This is the direction for them to also look at streetwear to influence underwear, creating an androgynous aesthetic out of comfortable fabrics. It is, in fact, an eco-luxe & slow fashion brand (100% in line with the LDC concept) that sources all its materials in the UK, making every part of the making process environment-friendly. Finally, Hidden Beneath is a made-to-order brand, aiming to reduce waste and cost. They really believe in what they do, that’s why they told us it could be beneficial for them to come to Shanghai in order to reach potential customers. And the most amazing thing is that they want to do this because they are sure they have something to offer to the Chinese market.
“Technology has made the world a global place to be. It’s impossible to have a business which isn’t global now. As everything is made to order at the brand, there is a spider web connection all over the world of people who have bought Hidden Beneath products and I like the thought of being connected to everybody in that way”.
Discover more about Hidden Beneath Underwear here.
The fourth brand to be featured in our Shanghai Fashion Weekend pop up is Tokkou. You may already know Tokkou from our Covent Garden store when they launched in LDC with their London Fashion Week Brand Presentation. It’s time to introduce them again to better understand the reason why the designer chose to come to China with us.
Tokkou’s cutting edge designs take inspiration from Japanese youth subculture Bousou-zoku. The collection covers men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, designed by characteristics of Bousou-zoku through tailoring that are considered to be design and striking embroidery.
The designer decided to come over to China to trial a wider audience, as starting from London they have already gained a Chinese audience. By already being “Made-in-Japan” but not selling in Japan by choice, the brand has already attracted a more global audience.
Discover more about Tokkou here.
Skylence, on the other hand, is a Chinese inspired and native brand. It is a London based contemporary womenswear brand that combines the clean lines of modern European design with traditional Chinese cultural and historical details to produce beautiful pieces for modern cosmopolitan professional women. Founded in London by ‘Skylence’ Tian Mo Zheng and started initially as a bespoke atelier, drawing on the legendary craftsmanship of traditional Shanghainese tailoring and rich fabrics to craft impeccably cut clothing. The name Skylence is a play on words that takes the English translation of Chinese characters ‘Tian’(天) ‘Mo’ (默), and humorously combines the translation of the two words ‘Sky’ and ‘Silence’.
“As a Chinese designer myself, it’s always good to be back to where I am from. Our brand SKYLENCE is a London brand but all our products are actually #MadeInShanghai. This time going to Shanghai (China) we are truly blending East and West. Plus China is the biggest luxury market in this world”.
Discover more about Skylence here.
Last but not least, Fyodor Golan. London based, advanced-contemporary designer-sportswear brand. In its spirit the brand represents Positive Intellectualism a movement of passionate self-expression, which comes across in vivid colours and use of tech fabrications merged with progressive sportswear aesthetics. While having a talk with the designers, we discovered they were supposed to show as a part of Shanghai Fashion Weekend, and when they heard LDC was going to have a pop up there, they thought it was a perfect coincidence! In fact, it is. Since always, Fyodor Golan has been a global brand. That is why their first season was shown for the first time in Hong Kong. Since then, they have been selling in China, South Korea, Middle East, America and Europe. The brand has been shown in two of our pop ups so far, and traveling with us will be a great opportunity for them to continue their global expansion.
“Our product is bold and colourful and radiate positivity and empowerment. these type of emotions are universal and we love to dress women from all over the world it is a massive gratification to know that our work somehow becomes a part of peoples life stories”.
Discover more about Fyodor Golan here.
If you're in Shanghai this weekend, come and check out our pop up store. We look forwards to meeting you there for our new retail experience.
Leave a comment