Name: Shangguan Zhe (Sankuanz)
Age: 31
Current base: Xiamen Island
Known for: His humorous, deconstructed take on familiar subcultural codes (which recently got him shortlisted for the LVMH prize).
Your brand in a sentence: You will never need what I design.
Studio soundtrack: Dubstep.
Why you love Xiamen: Moving is too much trouble.
Something funny we should know about you: I don’t like washing my hair.
The best advice you’ve ever been given: Eat less.
Names: Fiona Lau & Kain Picken (ffiXXed)
Ages: 30 & 34
Current base: Right now we’re holed up at the foot of Wutong Mountain in Shenzhen, but we’re originally from Melbourne.
Known for: Unisex all-natural clothes that feel more like art pieces.
Studio soundtrack: Shalamar, Yung Lean, Kohh.
Chinese design heroes: We really like Zhang Da’s label Boundless, Digest Design Workshop from Beijing, and Alias, a new label from Shenzhen.
Why you love Wutong: We’re always inspired by how traditional cultures find ways to exists within ideas of the future.
The best advice you’ve ever been given: “That sounds crazy. You should do it!”
Name: Vega Zaishi Wang (Vega Wang)
Age: 30
Current base: Beijing
Known for: Dramatic tailored silhouettes with a slightly unhinged vibe.
Please describe your brand in a sentence: “I am rooted, but I flow.”
Style icons: Working women.
Studio soundtrack: Gonzales.
Chinese design heroes: The Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei.
Why you love Beijing: Because Beijing loves nobody.
Something funny we should know about you: I’m cat-friendly.
Name: Christine Lau (Chictopia)
Age: 30
Current base: Beijing
Known for: Combining swinging 60s London (she studied at Central Saint Martins) with contemporary Beijing cool.
Style icons: Leslie Cheung, Anita Moi, Eileen Chang, Frida Khol and Björk.
Studio soundtrack: 80s Cantopop.
Chinese design heroes: Whoever designed the Forbidden Palace.
Why you love Beijing: It’s filled with wonderful childhood memories and has such a unique style.
Something funny we should know about you: I like eating pig’s brains. (It’s a local Chinese delicacy.)
The best advice you’ve ever been given: “Go your own way.”
Name: Anais Mak (Jourden)
Age: 26
Current base: Hong Kong
Known for: Artful, unusually textured knits (think baby-pink chenille and fuzzy plaids), and reaching the semi-final round of the 2015 LVMH Prize.
Your brand in a sentence: The Jourden girl comes from a very proper background but she’s always trying to break away from it.
Inspiration: The diva inside us all.
Style icons: Brooke Shields, Stéphanie de Monaco, Isabella Rossellini, Kristen Stewart.
Studio soundtrack: Beastie Boys, Tchaikovsky and classic Japanese and Hong Kong pop.
Why you love Hong Kong: The pace and energy make everything possible.
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson
Photography Ken Ngan