Models on the runway at the Hu Bing Selects runway during London Fashion Week featuring the supermodel Hu Bing<\/p>\n
Courtesy Hu Bing<\/p>\n
It\u2019s almost 50 years since the fashion designer Pierre Cardin went on his first trip to China. Now, decades later, the love affair that developed between the two is being unexpectedly marked on the runway at London Fashion Week, thanks to the supermodel Hu Bing.<\/p>\n
Hu Bing Selects<\/a>, his platform that launched at LFW in 2024, spotlights emerging Asian designers. Spring\/Summer \u201825 is the second installment and the launchpad for Equal Etherea, a new brand from Beijing founded by Aya Maruyama.<\/p>\n Scouted by Hu earlier this year at the first Fashion L\u2019Officiel China Textile City International Design Masters competition, Maruyama, who won the prize, was quickly recruited to his 100 Faces In Fashion initiative and then found herself with an invite to showcase at LFW<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her collection is an homage to history inspired by Pierre Cardin\u2019s love affair with China<\/a>. Shortly after the country adopted its opening-up policy, Cardin was the first Western couturier to show in China, hosting a runway in 1979. Over the following decade, he devoted his time to cultivating his business in the market through events, shows, and licensees. In 1981, he chose to open his second outpost of Maxim\u2019s in Beijing, where he held exclusive fashion events.<\/p>\n Equal Etherea\u2019s debut is a playful take on the shapes and silhouettes of the designer best known for his daring 1960s aesthetic. The retro line-up features classic capes and space-age mini-dresses, angled headwear, and flattering, luxurious peacoats, all in salute to Cardin\u2019s groundbreaking vision. Fittingly, Qu Ying, who was among the first generation of Chinese supermodels and walked for Cardin\u2019s Beijing shows in the 1990s, opened the show in a circular cashmere cap flanked with gold hardware.<\/p>\n Operating at breakneck speed\u2014even by Chinese standards\u2014 Maruyama explained that she had only 30 days to design 47 looks. (A feat that could surely enter into the Guinness Book of Records.) \u201cIt was a really big opportunity that came entirely out of the blue for me. Of course, it was a lot of hard work, but it was just too good to refuse,\u201d she shared backstage.<\/p>\n Final looks board from Equal Etherea backstage at the Hu Bing Selects runway during London Fashion Week<\/p>\n Connor Baker<\/p>\n The materials are a collaboration with the fabric innovator Lu Jianping. Liu is an expert in textile development and advancement; he created bespoke jacquards and sustainable fibers for the collection, such as an inventive wool blend with sculptural memory and a fine fabric that resembles leather by retaining its structure. Closing the show in a lavish cape of Zeus cashmere from the luxury fabric producer, Scabal, Hu proves that models don\u2019t have to be young\u2014 he is now 54 years old but looks and acts decades younger. Then again, he is China\u2019s first\u2014and only\u2014male supermodel for a reason.<\/p>\n Today, he\u2019s back in Europe for London Fashion Week (LFW), where he acts as an ambassador for the British Fashion Council. Hu is no stranger to fashion week. This year marks his 10th year as a self-proclaimed bridge between Europe and Asia, London and China, for fashion designers and creatives alike. Over the years, the model has subtly expanded his stature, edging away from being simply a face towards a figure of influencer, an arbiter of style, and more recently and perhaps most intriguingly, a talent scout<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the show, a fascinating fly-on-the-wall documentary details just how invested Hu is in every aspect of his showcase\u2014from the fabrics to the design, the casting to the lighting. It\u2019s hard to think of anyone at his level who is so personally invested in every little detail. \u201cIt was tough,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut it\u2019s been a great experience that has allowed me to be even more invested in all areas of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n Now he can rest surely? While he claims he\u2019s \u201csemi-retired,\u201d the polymath shows few signs of slowing down. If anything, the opposite is true. He rattled off a number of plans for 2026. Top of the list is cultivating a collaboration between the British Fashion Council<\/a> and China International Fashion Week (the Director sat front row). With his team, plans are in place to extend the Hu Bing Selects showcase to run across a full day. Hu\u2019s even branching out and will soon announce a new departure into the media world (this time as the editorial director of not one but two magazines in China and South Korea, respectively).<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m 54 this year. If I wait, if I’m playing it safe, maybe these opportunities will just pass me by,\u201d he says. For someone with so little to prove, who knows what could be left?<\/p>\n Supermodel Hu Bing closed the show at his event during London Fashion Week with Qu Ying<\/p>\n Courtesy Hu Bing Selects
\nMORE ON FORBESForbes5 Graduates To Know From London Fashion WeekBy Gemma A. Williams<\/a>ForbesOn Tour With Stefano Ricci In India As New Collection DropsBy Gemma A. Williams<\/a>ForbesWhy Moynat\u2019s 520 Campaign Is Going Viral In ChinaBy Gemma A. Williams<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Models on the runway at the Hu Bing Selects runway during London Fashion Week featuring the supermodel Hu…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,150546,146188,257,24246,150547,150548,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-446457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-hu-bing","12":"tag-lfw","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-london-fashion-week","15":"tag-qu-ying","16":"tag-supermodels","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115255027084957435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}