MANDARIN SEASONINGS : There’s a Chinese flavor simmering. The traditional collar and distinctive silhouette get a fresh treatment. Exotic brocades are put to new uses. Details add to the effect.
With its banded collar, flirtatious side slits, femme fatale shape and use of luxe fabrics, the Mandarin dress has transcended time to become a perennial classic: elegant, exotic and always sexy.
Which is why many designers are creating renditions of the standard Mandarin silhouette or finding new applications using rich Chinese brocades for their fashion-forward customers. Motifs such as dragons and Chinese lettering are featured for their inherent beauty as well as their pop aesthetic as something foreign.
What a coincidence that all this should arrive with the glorious resurrection of glamour. Apparently several in the fashion camp got hold of the same fortune cookies.
Designer David Dalrymple of the forever-hip House of Fields in New York City screened a black dragon on a flaming red, wet Lycra, Mandarin-cut dress.
“I always thought the classic Mandarin dress was sexy,” he said recently by phone. “By putting a dragon on stretch fabric, the style becomes more animated. The screen and Lycra are a more modern take. Lycra is comfort. It fits a wider range of women.”
Dalrymple said he and label namesake Patricia Fields have always had a Mandarin-inspired design in their collection (last winter, they did it in vinyl). But it was a fashion show they hosted earlier this year in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, that strengthened their direction.
The result of their trip is a collection that has a range of literal and loose interpretations of the Mandarin. Dalrymple cut shoehorn-tight dresses, tops and leggings from wet, black and red Lycra. Foil symbols that mean “happiness” and “live long and prosper” are repeated on Lycra, and Chinese phrases appear on tiny, cotton tees. Cropped tops with banded collars and ornamental fasteners are made of an opalescent glitter Lurex mesh, as are tiny circle skirts. There are Mandarin dresses cut from fuchsia and black as well as standard brown and black leopard prints (available at Chemistry in the Lab, Costa Mesa).
There are also satin skirts with side slits and cigarette-slim pants that evoke a Mandarin flavor.
In California as in New York, East meets West with designers sending the Orient Express through nightclubs, coffeehouses and other places to be seen.
Joywear reinvents the traditional silhouette by snipping cuts in the front and presenting its long and minuscule length versions in pastel-colored wringed satin. The look is undeniably modern, almost futuristic.
The collection includes a crop top and long dress that buttons up to a Mandarin collar, the “Lotus” jacket with severe lapels and a sarong skirt. Joywear’s Cindy O’Donoghue attributes her interest in the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism for the influence on her design. Even the palette of pale blue, lilac, orange, white, red and yellow is based in the belief that energy is visible and represented by color.
While she strays at times from the classic style, Donoghue says she finds that the basic silhouette has changed little over time. “This is not true of [clothing design] in many cultures,” she says.
Red Balls of Fire translates styles in vinyl and light brocades. Other labels are thinking Chinese for fall.
Andrew Hinkley opted for authentic Chinese brocade--pricier but worth it, says the Angeleno designer. For his first signature collection, Hinkley (who “fine-tunes” designs for the X-Girl label) says he was inspired by the ‘50s and Los Angeles’ Chinatown.
He fashioned cigarette-slim pants, each pair meticulously constructed down to the front slot pockets and hook-and-eye waistband. They are available for $150 at Spanish Fly in the Lab, Costa Mesa and at the X-Large store in Los Angeles.
“Brocade is such a rich fabric,” Hinkley says. “I think the patterns are so impressive. I definitely try to put forth glamour in my clothes. You can dress Chinese brocade up or down, but there is always an underlying sense of glamour to it.”
As a departure, Hinkley will introduce a Mandarin collar top made of pastel blue and pink cotton broadcloth ($48).
But it’s the Chinese brocade that ensures classic status--no matter what the article of clothing.
As president of Chinese Native Products in New York City, Ching Yeh Chen has observed brocade’s enduring appeal over the store’s 24 year history: “People love the Mandarin dress, the look and the fabric.”
This season, the import company enlisted designer Simone Wang of Simone to develop a collection cut from authentic brocades. The fabric is only produced in the town Hang Zhou near Shanghai. Because it is difficult to export large quantities of the fabric, the goods are manufactured in China, Chen says.
Wang created two Mandarin-style dresses, one that stop at the ankle and one at the knee.
“A lot of teen-agers bought them for prom,” Chen says.
Wang also designed pieces in brocade based on street wear: hooded tops, knapsacks, A-line minis, sleeveless sheaths and narrow pants called “chopsticks.” Most of the items in the line sell for under $90.
At Urban Outfitters in the Lab, the sheaths and miniskirts are selling quickly, and new shapes by Wang are expected to arrive over the next few months. The store also stocks spandex Mandarin tops by C.C. Outlaw.
Chen believes the ongoing appeal of Mandarin-inspired fashions lies in the fabric’s uniqueness.
“No two runs of the fabric are alike in pattern or color,” she notes.
But another--and probably more important--factor is the cost.
“There’s so much workmanship involved in the fabric and in making the dress--still a young person can have it for well under $100,” Chen says.
Besides, adds Chen, “It’s a style that looks good on everybody.”
