21st Century Business Herald reporter Bu Yuqin Chengdu reported that under the normalization of the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the international population circulation has decreased, the speed of commodity circulation has declined, and domestic and foreign exchanges and consumption have been affected. However, at the same time, the return of luxury consumption has accelerated, the domestic consumer market has further expanded, high-end consumption has been increasing, and some new consumption opportunities, new scenarios and new models have emerged.
Recently, the 21st Century Business Herald reporter interviewed Guo Pei, a famous Chinese fashion designer, who believes that the more people worry about the future, the more they need to go to the United States. Luxury goods and high-end consumption can not be equated, if consumption because of wealth comparison, fame and fortune, or the desire of the sensory world and unrealistic consumption, should be in the aesthetic education to give young people more correct guidance, let him know what is luxury. Luxury goods are not something that is reluctant to use in reality, a cabinet with fine woodworking and a jewelry box are also luxury goods, because it can be inherited, can be retained by the times, and can carry spirit, culture and love.
<h4>More to the beauty</h4>
"21st Century": Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, consumption in various fields has fluctuated to a certain extent. In your observation, what impact does it have on high-end consumption? Especially in the garment couture industry, what is the impact of domestic and foreign markets?
Guo Pei: The COVID-19 pandemic has actually had some impact and impact on our entire industry, and this impact is global, but relatively speaking, China is in much better shape. For my industry, it doesn't involve a very large range of people, and relatively speaking, the impact is not very large. Often, the more this state of worrying about the future, the more people yearn for a kind of beauty, which may be related to human nature.
In fact, the ultimate difference between couture and ready-to-wear is personalization, and the realization of everyone's good wishes is one of the most important embodiments of personalization. I think that a beautiful thing or people's yearning for beauty will appease many people who are worried about the future, so in this era, we must advocate that everyone walk towards beauty, not only in various industries, it is the ultimate best height of mankind.
"21st Century": China's consumption is constantly upgrading, and the share of luxury goods in the Chinese market is also increasing. How do you see the Chinese consumer market?
Guo Pei: Luxury depends on how you look at it and recognize it. Many people have a misconception about the concept of luxury goods, thinking that luxury goods are absolutely negative, but I don't think so. Because human wisdom, human thought, the highest state of human beings are often a very luxurious expression. For example, in the Himalayas, there may not be many people on the earth who have actually climbed rocks, and for mountains, is it necessary for mountains that no one has climbed? I think of course there is, it is a sign of the height of the world, which is like a luxury, not that I have to use it every day, to define its value in terms of practical or not function in reality, in fact, this is all wrong. Because man is a Trinity, in addition to our state of reality, there is also our spiritual world and soul world.
Therefore, I think luxury goods may affect more on the spiritual level of people, and even enter the soul level. Some time ago, the exhibition of human luxury goods in the ten thousand years of mankind, which just ended in France, exhibited a lot of utensils, objects and even clothing that represent the ultimate height of human beings, not only aesthetic standards but also memory standards. The last exhibit is my "Dajin", which was designed nearly 20 years ago, when it took nearly 50,000 hours of labor, when it appeared, many people thought that this dress was designed for what purpose? It's crazy, it's so impractical, is this still clothes? Can I wear it? When judging whether reality can wear it or not, it does not need to appear in this world at all. But when it continues to appear in some well-known museums in the world, its appearance does not represent a piece of clothing, not even a designer, but a country, a nation, its culture, its spirit, its aesthetics.
21st Century: In your opinion, what are the differences between the consumption concepts and consumption characteristics of Chinese consumers and foreign consumers in high-end consumption?
Guo Pei: China has actually been changing, and now it has reached the rising stage, we have gone from meeting the actual needs in the past to the era of almost always rising in the 40 years after entering the 70s, and then after the turning point of the last 10 years, we will enter the era of great beauty, which is a cycle of human beings. The West promoted social progress after the industrialization revolution of 1900, and the 1930s and 1960s were its era of great beauty. So far, we have defined today's aesthetic standards with the aesthetics of the Western era, but the Aesthetics of the West are now going downwards, and now there are actually some problems and phenomena of lack of self-confidence, which are obvious to all. Therefore, in the future, China will enter a remarkable era, and we will use our beauty and culture to redefine the world's aesthetic standards, and I believe that this will be the case.
<h4>Luxury ≠ high-end consumption</h4>
"21st Century": Some people believe that at present, many luxury goods are trying to promote downwards on the basis of existing consumer groups, but this is easy to affect the shaping of minors' values, and further cause group anxiety. What do you think of this view?
Guo Pei: People walk towards beauty, but in fact, luxury goods affect or guide people at the spiritual level. Educating young people to walk towards beauty is not directly related to his material basis. In Western society, walking into the home of an ordinary person, you will see some so-called "luxury goods", which is not an expensive bag and an expensive dress as we understand it now, in fact, a work of art, a woodworking cabinet, a jewelry box is also a luxury, because it can be inherited, it can be retained by the times, it can carry spirit, culture and love, so this is called luxury, not something you are reluctant to use in reality.
I think that human beings need luxury goods, and instilling this kind of beauty education in more young people will only make their values and worldview more complete, and they know more about what dedication is, and they know what is the most precious thing, that is, to attach love to an object, which is a luxury.
21st Century: How to understand the two concepts of luxury and high-end consumption? How to see some of the guidance of high-end consumption in the market?
Guo Pei: High-end consumption and luxury goods can not draw an equal sign, although luxury goods may be very expensive, but it is not equal to high-end consumption, it is because of the accumulation of love and life and have, can become a lifelong companion, belongs to the real luxury in life.
If we talk about high-end consumption in terms of high-end consumption, if the item itself does not have much value, but uses various packaging to publicize and amplify its value, I think this consumption should be suppressed. To let more young people have this kind of discernment, not because of vanity, because of the comparison of wealth, or for the appearance of fame and fortune, or the desire of the sensual world, these are unrealistic high-end consumption. For young people, they should be given more correct guidance in aesthetic education, so that they know what is luxury, it is loving, it is what makes you move after seeing, it will make you want to love it for a lifetime, protect it for a lifetime, and even pass it on from generation to generation.
Luxury is powerful, not simply high price, owning it means that I have money, it means that I have the ability to spend, it represents my vanity, or I want to enter a certain circle, which should be completely inhibited or criticized, if it is my child, I will forbid him to consume such things, and will encourage him to use his own efforts to have something that can really be called luxury.
<h4>Incorporating traditional culture into design cannot be too purposeful</h4>
"21st Century": In the industry, you are committed to integrating Chinese and Western elements into couture design, in what aspects do you plan to carry out deep integration of Chinese and Western in the future, and promote design with oriental culture to the world?
Guo Pei: If an artist or a designer deliberately uses a certain culture to achieve a certain goal, he is actually very realistic. Now Chinese like to promote traditional culture, use it to make some products and then guide the consumption belt, I think it is too purposeful.
I think that the embodiment of traditional culture in design should come from sincere love, truth, goodness and beauty will always be the highest state of human beings, so it comes from the love in my heart, and I must express it. The most important part of the artist, or the most precious original intention of mankind, if for the purpose I will not think, there is no such clear plan, but if out of sincerity, for example, the traditional wedding dress I have been doing for more than 10 years, in fact, I advocate Chinese wear Chinese wedding dress, want to make it touch all oriental girls, want to make every oriental girl feel more beautiful than the Western wedding dress, in fact, all this stems from my original intention and sincerity. I also make the first dress of a child's birth. We work hard every day, there are countless opportunities and opportunities, I do almost a thousand designs a year, and the company has a lot of step-by-step plans.
Written by: Bu Yuqin
Photo: Bu Yuqin
Later stage: Shen Aoling
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![Chinese designer Guo Pei SS 20 Spring/Summer Fashion Show[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)