Chinese fashion designer Alicia Lee is the antidote to chain-store blandness: here’s why her clothes are popular with the professional career woman
- Despite being far from factories in southern China, Lee cultivated contacts from fashion and magazines in Beijing
- The designer has built a loyal customer base for her clothes, with their vibrant colours, use of silk and prints in classic cuts
When Alicia Lee launched her own fashion label, more than seven years ago, it was something of an uphill struggle.
In many ways the design part was the easiest. Finding distributors and factories prepared to commit to smaller production runs was the trickiest part.
It was particularly difficult for the Beijing-based designer, who was located some distance from where most China garment factories are.
Being in the capital, however, did offer one huge advantage – the concentration of media organisations there made it easy to cultivate contacts from fashion and lifestyle magazines.
“When I launched in 2012, the designers here got a lot of attention,” recalls Lee. “It was easy to get exposure with celebrities and to get your name out – but, on the other hand, the whole industry for local designer brands was not there yet.
