Huishan Zhang Spring 2024 Ready-to-Wear

In the little more than 10 years since the Qingdao-born, London-based designer Huishan Zhang started his label, attitudes toward luxury craftsmanship have fundamentally shifted. Zhang established an atelier in his native city on China’s Yellow Sea coast in the early days of his brand, and he can still recall his first trip to Paris to meet with buyers, who admitted they admired his pretty, feminine clothes, but pronounced that their clients wouldn’t be interested in them when they learned where they were made. China wasn’t synonymous with savoir faire for a certain type of luxury customer. How times have changed. “You’re telling stories all the time, about where I am now, what I’ve experienced, and on the side I’m telling China’s story as well, about how we manufacture and how we put things together,” said Zhang, characteristically diplomatic and optimistic as he spoke backstage before his spring show. “Along the way, we have collected women who appreciate the thought we put into the garments. We’ve continuously had a cheongsam line [a permanent edit of dresses inspired by the traditional Chinese silhouette], which is a tribute to my own heritage; we use polished jade buttons. All these details go into this cultural project to actually emphasize what Made in China stands for.”