IFA Design School Fashion Show at Shanghai Fashion Week, Xin Tian Di

So I loveee seeing student work, but too much student work is like “OMG make it stop please!” I felt that way after seeing a certain school’s show last season, but I also saw the best student show I’d ever seen last season so I thought I’d give it another go. This was neither, but there were things that intrigued me about this multi-designer runway show. I liked the variety, and the craftsmanship seemed to be of a higher level than I’d previously witnessed from students in China… I don’t think you can really compare it with Parsons, but China is in desperate need of a design schools with different visions and IFA seems like it certainly is filling a need here. Perhaps it’s because I’m approaching things from a much more commercial perspective this season (working in a store will do that to you), but I really couldn’t imagine who would have bought any of this stuff. If you’re gonna go for it conceptually, go for it!! If you’re going to create a brand that is commercially successful, great!! Of course you need to balance creativity and commercial viability, but all these mini-collections seemed to lean more one way or the other… But again, their students, so hopefully they still know that they can learn.