In the rarefied world of couture, Shanghai-based fashion designer Grace Chen is a figure bridging East and West. In the past 15 years, she has quietly built a brand that challenges Western notions of a successful Chinese fashion model. Her ascent parallels China’s cultural renaissance.
She trained at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (their first Mainland Chinese graduate) and worked with eveningwear brands in New York and Los Angeles before starting her eponymous label, in 2009 in China. Chen specializes in meticulously tailored garments that blend modern silhouettes, beautiful craftsmanship, cultural references and a large serving of glamour. With a Shanghai HQ, an outpost in Beijing and a new boutique planned in New York, Chen’s key clientele includes Chinese business elite, diplomats and HNW diaspora.
Her label’s Fashion Travel program, which has taken VIP clients on travels to Monaco, Mexico, Japan and New Zealand, offers trips that give a heady mixture of culture, connection as well as couture.
Chen’s subtle incorporation of elements like calligraphy or landscape painting has transformed garments into diplomatic currency at international gatherings. Critics applaud a key achievement: crafting modern luxury that weaves in Chinese identity without resorting to clichés. As markets pivot eastward, can her vision inform how luxury fashion, culture and travel can collaborate in the future?
Favorite local Shanghai restaurant?
A small neighborhood crab noodle restaurant 云和面馆 Yunhe Noodles which is close to my Grace Chen villa’s HuaShan road address in the Former French Concession neighborhood. I love the leafy, relaxed vibes of the area and menu is to die for.
Go-to spot for inspiration in Shanghai?
Honestly, I love where there is the distinctive architecture from the 1920s and 30s in the city – anything from around this period gives me so much inspiration. There’s a sense of nostaglia but also so much cultural and aesthetic beauty to be found in these places. That’s why I choose to have my Grace Chen “maison” and villa in the Former French Concession neighbourhood. I hired architectural firm Kokai Studio to rennovate the property in this classic Art Deco-inspired style because I wanted to be surrounded by the essence and romance of this era. My clients who some there for events, shows and fittings appreciate it too, there’s a real feeling of the heydays and beginnings of European couture.
A hidden gem you love in New York City?
Rock ‘n’ roll music was actually my first passion, so this is really from my time studying in New York, but I really love the old rock ’n roll club CBGB in the Manhattan’s East Village. It used to be a dive bar and biker bar before being turned into a music club – it was such an icon.
What’s always in your carry on?
My Clive Christian perfume
Favourite travel destination for relaxation?
Toyko is my absolute favourite.
Top three cities for fashion and why?
I love New York City for the eagerness and for the individuality you find there in how people dress and style themselves. There’s of course Paris, for this kind of self awareness and discipline when it comes to fashion. And I have to throw Tokyo in there – mainly for the fact that people in the Japanese capital always have such well done hair!
A memorable dining experience abroad?
Dining under the gaze of the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, Egypt. It was quite a surreal feeling during one of our Fashion Travels trips. It really gave you a sense of the majesty of ancient civilisations.
Describe Chinese fashion in a few words:
Hmmm, that’s quite hard. I would say: A vibrant memory but hard to grasp. A dream on the verge of coming to reality
Most inspiring city for art visited recently?
It has to be Mexico City, it’s just so full of inspiration, and it feels like there’s almost nothing beside art and creativity throughout the city. We even went to the so called more “dangerous” places around the country on that trip and found some interesting cutures and experiences.
Where do you travel for pure escapism
Boston! That might sound strange, but its because my daughter lives and studies there at Berklee College of Music, so I love hanging out with her there.
Favourite hotel in the world?
The Four Seasons in Hong Kong. I love the pool, the spectacular view of Victoria harbour and that it’s right in the middle of the skyscrapers and the centre of the city.
Dream destination, not yet fulfilled?
It has to be Greenland.
