Spotlight: SANKUANZ

Shangguan Zhe is the founder and head designer of the Chinese streetwear brand SANKUANZ. After studying both visual communications and advertising at Xiamen University he started SANKUANZ in 2008. He opted to stay in the city of Xiamen, saying that it has fewer distractions than larger cities.

This coastal city has been getting a lot of attention thanks to Zhe and by association SANKUANZ, who’s at the helm of The Xiamen Fashion Gang. “For me, the coolest thing [about the Xiamen scene] is that it is not dominated by a mature elite, but by young people,” - Shangguan Zhe told the BOF.

SANKUANZ is propelling the Chinese fashion scene and industry to a wider audience around the world; in 2015 the brand showed its collection at London Collections Men and Paris Men’s Fashion Week, that same year the designer won the prestigious LVMH Prize.

 

 

As a Graphic Designer, Zhe tends to showcase a lot of patterns and bold graphics in his collections. His F/W14 collection was collaboration with Chinese contemporary performance artist Tianzhuo Chen and featured bright colors, clashing patterns and bold Chinese type that is juxtaposed to tailored pinstripe suits.

Zhe enlisted Chinese artist Xu Zhen to collaborate on the S/S17 collection, which was titled “The Safe House A” and was a nod to NASA, the Air Force and futurism. The application of patchworks and materials actually used in spaceships (transparent cuben fiber, dyneema and aramid) are seen throughout this season.

SANKUANZ SS18 collection is full of military inspired looks, bringing an urban sensibility to army style garments. Prints inspired by American artist Cy Twombly are shown throughout this collection as an homage to the painter. The abstract print is seen in the construction of different pieces like shirts, blazers, trench coats and pants. Another trend seen for ss18 are the attention grabbing oversized bags.

This streewear brand has the makings of fashion powerhouse, showcasing Chinese youth culture while collaborations enhance the limitless vision of Shangguan Zhe’s designs. This goes to prove that SANKUANZ is a brand that we should keep our eyes on.