Powering today's emerging designers

In November 1978, French fashion designer Pierre Cardin (1922-2020) visited China, the first of any Western fashion designers to do so since 1949. His trip marked not only the beginning of his influence on the Chinese fashion scene, which came to a peak in the 1980s and early 90s, but also a significant moment in Chinese fashion history at a time when the country was on the cusp of change.

"Cardin wasted no time entering the Chinese market upon the country's reform and opening-up, following the end of the 'cultural revolution' (1966-76)," says Liu Wei, who taught at Beijing's Fashion Institute of Technology.

While the French designer had foreseen the immense buying power about to be unleashed by hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers, he was also poised to shock audiences with his first-ever fashion show in the chilly spring of 1979.