The Temper Fact Checker presents the 5W flashcards of our most titillating and savory ones sauntering through the China Fashion scene, one brand or designer at a time. 5W, you ask? “Who, What, When, Where, Why,” we say. Come hither, SONGTA. Check!
Who?
SONGTA founder Song Ta (宋拓) is a conceptual artist and art curator turned fashion designer. Heavily influenced by a Gen Z muse, if you will, his work encompasses both mens- and womens-(ready-to-)
In thinking about alternative visuals to represent contemporary China, Song looks to social satire. From an AW19 collection energized, youthful, and electrified to next trending levels by the omnipresent middle-school uniforms in the city of Shenzhen to an SS20 collection staging overblown high-waisted pants meant to mirror the quintessential style quirks of former PRC President Jiang Zemin (in office from 1993 to 2003).
The brand even coined the term “Kanbu style” (干部| gàn bù) which loosely translates as “leader style,” to refer to the way Chinese boomer politicians typically dress.
A de-Westernized understanding of fashion, as epitomized by the SONGTA label, is rapidly infiltrating China’s first-tier street style trends.
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What?
SONGTA headlines with bold images and Chinese characters, for its debut collection drawing inspiration from, as we mentioned as an example already, the city of Shenzhen’s middle school uniform fashions — the Temper star player a football shoulder pad-inspired top with red shorts.
This very first labor of label (love) promotes the spirit of campus collectivism, breaking the initial perceptions of the style and fabrics used to create regular school uniforms, and uses humor to deconstruct and reorganize the cultural elements of school uniforms.
SONGTA DEBUT COLLECTION
SONGTA DEBUT COLLECTION
SONGTA AT PITTI UOMO
The brand’s fashion theory is to convert contemporary art into fashion through its own ideology and culture confidence. Contemporary artists are required to remodel themselves after fashion designers and luxury brands to truly bring revolutionary influence to the industry.
Designers must conceptualize each collection as it was an art installation. How? By utilizing curatorial and socially engaged art to design clothing.
The SONGTA SS20 collection is called “Neo-Realism” fusing traditional Chinese clothing with hip-hop street styles.
SONGTA KANBU STYLE
SONGTA ARABIAN STREET STYLE
SONGTA RUSSIAN MOB PUTIN STYLE
When?
May 2019:
A brand is born.
September 2019:
Alibaba’s Tmall Show at NYFW
New York, U.S.
SONGTA K11 POP-UP — THE BRAND’S FIRST-EVER PHYSICAL STORE PRESENCE
GUANGZHOU, CHINA
“SOLD” — SONGTA x LABELHOOD POP-UP
SHANGHAI, China
SONGTA K11 POP-UP — THE BRAND’S FIRST-EVER PHYSICAL STORE PRESENCE —
GUANGZHOU, CHINA
October 2019:
SONGTA SS20 FASHION SHOW
Shanghai Fashion Week
December 2019:
First Flagship Store
Shenzhen, China
January 2020:
Pitti Uomo Showcase
MILAN, ITALY
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Where?
SONGTA, unlike many independent start-ups, in its first year opened up a flagship store based in Shenzhen, China.
For the full list of this label’s stockists, click right here.
SONGTA SCULPTURAL
Why?
Song plays into the new-found “ease” on the part of China’s Gen Z to stray from the mainstream and thus presents this consumer base with a sense of otherness.
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Honing in on the diversity of China’s younger clientele, wanting to stand out and be different and unique, the SONGTA brand aims to uncover a new form of commercial exposure to retailers and customers.
Satirize yourself via
Instagram: @songta_official
FEATURED IMAGE: SINGER @anoryzlin WORE A BLACK PULLOVER AND SHORT PANT FROM SONGTA DEBUT COLLECTION, TO THE SONGTA SS20 FASHION SHOW IN SHANGHAI. All rights reserved
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Perpetually in pursuit of the greater good that is “China Fashion”, van Paridon set up The China Temper to help promote the dynamite dynamic fashion scene sprouting within Beijing, Shanghai, and China overall. Catering to anybody and everybody who reads English and/or Chinese, Temper covers all the basics and bases. From China's street style scenery to its budding photographers, internationally renowned designers, and underground quirks plus phenomena: We present one hot-hip-happening current collective weaving The New "Made in China" tag.
The term “Made in China” is undergoing the ultimate 21st Century makeover. Escorted by the increasingly strong influence of a new thinking among China’s younger generations, regarding individuality and the expression thereof, the fashion scene in the Middle Kingdom is exploding. And stretches far beyond what meets the eye. It’s appliqué, one might say.
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