Ban Xiaoxue (WEI YAO)

China Fashion Week, held in Beijing every March and October, always surprises audiences with its esoteric and unusual offerings. On March 25, the showroom placed the haute couture spotlight on a newly created domestic fashion brand, BANXIAOXUE.

Designer Ban Xiaoxue hosted the first show for his eponymously named design label in Beijing's 798 Art Zone, capturing the attention of Beijing's fashion elite, who attended in droves. Ban rose to fame after becoming the chief designer of the domestic fashion brand EXCEPTION, a label widely known owing to the fact that it counts China's first lady Peng Liyuan among its most prominent customers.

Entitled To Moss, Ban's show featured the theme of nature. The runway was decorated with soft earth and green moss, immersing audiences in a "natural wonderland." Ban's costumes were mainly made of organic fabrics such as cotton and fiber flax with some pieces being knitted with wool. Ban always likes to make use of natural materials in his creations. In terms of the natural tones of color, gray, white and black are Ban's favorites. He said that through his work, he hopes to popularize a "simple and natural way of life." However, Ban's style does not lack bright colors and pattern changes. Tassels knitted in different patterns lend Ban's clothing a diversified character.

Ban was born in a village in north China's Hebei Province. In 2007, Ban graduated from Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts and joined EXCEPTION. In 2012, being weary of urban life and office work, Ban resigned and volunteered to teach painting in a remote village in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

"Many people living in cities tend to ignore the beauty of nature. I want to awaken the desire in everyone to live a simple and natural life," Ban said.

In 2012, in order to participate in the competition for The International Woolmark Prize, Ban registered his own brand BANXIAOXUE and, at last, he won China Regional Award, achieving recognition for his talents both at home and abroad. "Thanks to the competition, I have my own brand now," Ban said.

He is dedicated to designing costumes that are functional, pragmatic and can be worn by people in their everyday lives, Ban added.

(WEI YAO)

(WEI YAO)

(WEI YAO)

 

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