- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, wearing a custom Exception de Design trench coat, as departed a plane outside Moscow in March.
- Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
China’s first lady could do for a Chinese brand what Michelle Obama did for Taiwan-born designer Jason Wu.
Exception de Mixmind, which garnered international attention this spring after China’s first lady Peng Liyuan dazzled audiences in a trench coat custom-made by the label during a state visit to Moscow, is setting its sights on using some of that momentum to expand outside its home market.
Mao Jihong, co-founder and president of Exception de Mixmind, told China Real Time at a recent fashion event in Beijing that the company, which has more than 90 stores in China, is preparing to expand in Europe and studying how to enter the U.S.. A company spokeswoman declined to disclose sales figures, but said the brand has seen a “satisfactory” increase this year.
Mr. Mao founded the Guangzhou-based clothing brand in 1996 with his ex-wife, Ma Ke, who remains the company’s art director. The two are among the first generation of designers in mainland China who studied clothing design in college.
“We target clients, domestic and international alike, who appreciate Eastern beauty and have an independent mindset,” said Mr. Mao, who is originally from central China’s Hunan province.
China’s first lady isn’t the only public figure to spotlight the brand. A photograph of Chinese tennis star Li Na dressed in a white Exception shirt beside the Eiffel Tower holding her French Open trophy also drew the public’s attention in 2011.
Exception’s design is known for being simple yet elegant, with designs that incorporate traditional Chinese aesthetics using natural fabrics. “We care a lot about artistic conception in our design,” Mr. Mao said. “The core value of oriental aesthetics is the theory of unity of man and nature.”
Mr. Mao, who eschews advertising campaigns and prefers to promote the brand “quietly,” also points to modern culture as a major source of inspiration, citing as examples novels by Haruki Murakami and films by Jia Zhangke, Steven Spielberg and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
“Independence is a display of inner power and it is what helps my brand stand out from others,” he said. “Instead of being overwhelmed by what you wear, you should take charge of it.”
In addition to Exception, Mr. Mao also runs Ymoynot, a year-old fashion label targeted at young people with eight stores in mainland China and Hong Kong; and Fang Suo Commune, a chic bookstore opened in 2011 in Taikoo Hui, a high-end shopping mall in Guangzhou.
He said he hopes that as the brand expands overseas, it can help better represent China in the world of fashion.
“In the future, we hope that people around the world can enjoy oriental lifestyle and aesthetics,” he said. “We expect to stand in the same platform with first-tier fashion brands and retailers to deliver China’s voice.”
– Lilian Lin. Follow her on Twitter @LilianLinyigu
NOTE: The name of Mao Jihong’s fashion label is Exception de Mixmind. An earlier version of this post incorrectly referred to it in some instances as Exception de Mind.
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