Photos & Text by Mr Hartnett. 2007        

...

"For the price of a Snickers bar per hour, Beijing

bands can hire the most amazing rehearsal rooms

complete with full drum kit and Marshall amps," says

Anthony Bednall, Head of Academic and Faculty at

Raffles Design Institute in Beijing. "Whilst so many

young ska, punk and rock bands play to perfection,

it's all a copy of a copy of a copy, just so little

imagination. Much the same could be said for the

majority of Chinese fashion, but things are changing."

Raffles Design Institute in Shanghai is, like the

Beijing campus, very much for privileged students of

first generation wealth, many of whom are dropped off

for 'school' and collected in chauffeured cars that

purrr. There is a conservative air to the place,

despite the efforts of staff to shake thing up.

IFA Paris, on the other hand, takes in many

state-funded students and the fashion school has a

beehive feel to it. On-campus housing dormitories

squeeze four to a room. We're talking two sets of bunk

beds, no air-con, concrete floors, cold-water washing

at certain times only. Classes start each morning at

8am. Uh-huh.

Based in Shanghai's Putuo district, IFA Paris offers

China a European-quality fashion education that draws

on the rich tradition of France, embracing modern

techniques and style. The distinguished staff at IFA

have all worked with the best of the best, from Claude

Montana and Castelbajac to Pierre Balmain, Yves

Saint-Laurent, Hermes and Lacroix. IFA fizzes, it

feels like Central Saint Martins in the early 80s.

Creative Research Workshop is a Shanghai-based

collective who run a vintage clothing outlet. They

bring the colour and variety of Chinese street-style

to www.crw-1.com. They have taken snaps of a thousand

or so local show-offs over the last two years.....

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Photos & Text ©Mr Hartnett. 2007