Li-Ning on the international stage at Paris Men's Fashion Week

In China, Li-Ning is an iconic  and successful sports brand named after their star Olympian.

China's iconic sports brand Li-Ning, named after the Chinese star Olympian,

will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2020.

And now its ambition is to conquer the world, especially after a successful introduction in its home country at retailers like Lane Crawford. Li-Ning’s elevated runway collection, now in its fourth season, continues to expand its global distribution at a range of high-end retailers and specialty sneaker boutiques including KITH, SSENSE, LN-CC, Slam Jam, END Clothing, Oki-Ni, Selfridges, and END Clothing to name a few.

The sports brand has now presented for the second time at Paris Men’s Fashion Week. This season the event was in a show space inside the Lycée Turgot in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.  Within the custom set, graphics from the collection adorned the hyper-colour, multi-layer walls; with seating arranged in a maze-like format.

Models walked the labyrinth to an eclectic Chinese soundtrack, ’90s hip hop, and abstract Jazz, revealing the collection to a front-row crowd that included world champion skier Eileen Gu, Chinese performer Ayunga, singer Can Chengyu, and Lucas Jagger, as well as Mr. Li-Ning himself, who took in the show alongside his daughter Xiaoyan.

Mr. Li-Ning at the Paris catwalk alongside his daughter Xiao-yan.

Li-Ning finds the inspiration for its latest collection in ping-pong—or simply known as table tennis in the West, the Chinese national sport that commands a fervor greater than basketball, baseball, or soccer and one in which China has won 28 of 32 Olympic gold medals since its introduction in 1988.

For Spring/Summer 2020, the simple ping-pong polo informed the design direction of the entire collection, which offers easy shapes and voluminous silhouettes cut away from the body.

For an airy look, Li-Ning has used a set of new, ultra-lightweight fabrics for an array of coats and shirts, trousers and shorts, bags and accessories and footwear. 

In its styling and coloruways, the collection fused nostalgia and futurism.

SS20 highlights include deconstructed, zip-away Mackintosh coats trimmed in contrasting piping and affixed with patches, layered paperweight anoraks in contrasting tones of khaki and yellow, oversized polo—short or long-sleeved, striped, patterned, patched, piped, open V-neck, or zip-neck with vintage-inspired circular pulls. The breezy look carried through to the women’s range: females wore long tennis dresses darted with contrast stitching, as well as zip-away track coats and waisted track dresses. And for all genders, Li-Ning reimagined its signature garment—the track suit—in a wild range of colors, materials, and techniques, each of them at home on the ping-pong courts of yesterday or today.

Across all apparel, Li-Ning made strong use of vintage-inspired graphics including repeating paddle prints, abstract collages, comic book sketches, and the critical number 11, which was assigned to Mr. Li during the 1984 Summer Olympics.

LGN by Louis Gabriel Nouchi launches a poetic collection for SS20

Although LGN is a very young brand, founded in Paris in 2017 by Louis Gabriel Nouchi who was trained at l’Ecole des arts visuels de la Cambre, he has had worked for Vogue and Raf Simons, and now widely recognized for his commercial success and creative ability, having launched capsule collections with Galeries Lafayette, la Redoute, Damart and more recently for the honored French luxury accessories brand, Agnelle.  Previously his work earned a nomination at the Hyères Festival in 2014, where he was awarded the Camper and Palais de Tokyo Prizes.

This season, at Paris Men's Fashion Week, he calls his SS20 collection The Skin,  as the designer is entering a new cycle of inspirations based on the iconic Italian writer, Curzio Malaparte.

As literature is an essential starting point of all LGN’s collection, according to the brand, “THE SKIN” takes place during the liberation of Napoli by the US army in 1943 when soldiers discovered through the eyes of the narrator, which is supposed to be the writer Malaparte, on how to face the reality of war."

The collection however is not played out in full military style but rather leaning towards a poetic direction featuring old-time elegance as silhouettes are constructed as patchwork of technical details between print, knitwear and dyeing techniques. The colour palette is based on the an ancient Italian city.  Classic pieces are delicately sloughing to reveal Italian marble pattern, like distilled through history.

There are military details adding functionality to classic 1940’s tailoring, teaming with grunge details, and the LGN signature  is manifested through raw edges, "destroyed" sleeves and hem that seems to  refer to the poetry of ruins in romantic paintings, showing the violence of human behavior, nature and time.

The oversized silhouette works well for a layered, tailoring look.

Patterns appear through tattoo-like prints, images "spinning joy and pains of soldier on missions, translate the deepest moment and becoming another skin."

"Like a banner of intimate memories. It is carrying sensibility and a history in every clothes, showing the world what the man has been through."

The collection is a message based on the book imagery. A message of love, coming for peace in this amount of violence.

IH NOM UH NIT goes Japanese for SS20

European fashion house IH NOM UH NIT’s ethos is always to juxtaposition simple clean lines with an appetite for rare fabrications and interesting textures.

In Milan this season at the Menswear Fashion Week, the label's creative Director Chaz Jordan takes traditional Asian influences to tell a Samurai Story for street and jeans wear.

The collection showcases monochromatic total looks including matching silk sets, modern interpretations of kimonos & Asian robes as well as creating clean bomber jackets and blousons as well as graphic tees, in Oriental fabrics or  adorned with intricate embroidery of koi fish, snowcapped Himalaya Mountain ranges & cherry blossoms.

Boxy silhouettes echoed on shirts with drop sleeves & interesting pleated pants gave each look unique shapes.

The global brand based in Paris and Milan continues to woo international retailers and fans with its forward-thinking styles. In just 5 seasons, IH NOM UH NIT has landed fashion covers and a slew of avid celebrity followers alike.  Later this year, IH NOM UH NIT will be presenting their collection collaborations with top-tier brands & licensing deals are also in the works . The fashion house will also be expanding their offerings to encompass 3 signature shoes & a full accessory range.

In 2015, IH NOM UH NIT’s premier collection launched in Paris during Fashion Week with a well curated 20-piece range. Under the aegis of its imaginative Creative Director Chaz Jordan who's the driving force behind the brand, the luxury label today has become known for modernizing European opulence.  I

H HOM UH NIT epitomizes effortless ready-to-wear with an adaptive mind set. The line ranges from exotic furs, androgynous joggers to easy relaxed graphic tees which amassed a global cult-like following.

Brazilian brand Havaianas presents six Mediterranean themed flip-flops with three designers

Warm summer months conjure up images of loose casual dressing and airy footwear.  Nothing is more summer than slipping on a pair of flip-flops and enjoying time in the sun.

Among my favourite pass-times is lazying around the pool or kicking up sand along beaches in a pair of Havainans, the go-to Brazilian brand for stylish flip-flops.  They are always packed in my holiday bag for destinations around the world.

Now I hear Havaianas have launched a special project called Local Soul whereby local artists in 3 Mediterranean destinations, notably Ibiza, Tel Aviv and Mykonos, are given the opportunity to use Havaianas as a canvas to showcase their design and inspiration.

The brand will also be taking over a beach venue in each place for the whole summer to bring a touch of Brazil to the Mediterranean, with a special music session each week, and one very special headline event in each location over the summer.

All 3 locations have been chosen because of their vibrant landscapes and atmosphere, their beach location and their cool vibes.

Each of the artists brings a different art form and take on the project to showcase the three destinations.

Rafi Perez from Tel Aviv, a native of this city and is known for his colourful artworks focusing on the city itself and the lively LGBTQ community who live and visit the city, present landscapes of the city in vibrant colours.  His designs are shown above and here on the left.

Athenian Marina Vernicos, however, takes her photographic inspiration from the beauty of Mykonos whose seascapes, architecture and landscape all serve as muses for her work. Her works are shown here on the right and below.

Finally, fashion and textile designers of the World Family Ibiza who focus on embroidery play on the warmth of the island and the iconic xyz rock as seen from the beach where Alok and Merel first met over 30 years ago.   Their designs are shown on the right and below.

The 6 pairs of Havaianas  flip-flops (2 per location - all shown here) are only available to buy from selected retailers in either Ibiza, Tel Aviv or Mykonos – so if you are lucky enough to be visiting these special places over the summer one of these could be an exclusive souvenir of your trip!

Havaianas has been producing flip-flops in Brazil since 1962.

Mary-Ann Watt features her unique paintings on desirable homeware and gifts

British artist Mary-Ann Watt has launched an online shop selling a selection of homeware and gifts featuring her unique paintings of realistic flowers.  By concentrating on presenting close-ups of a single flower or a bud about to blossom or a flowering branch, her paintings are intimate yet bold, giving her range of products a contemporary style.

Explained Mary-Ann, "Long before I started my business I was always looking for homewares that would complement the soft greys and greens of my home but I could never find anything.  And I knew from speaking to friends that I was not alone.  So using my paintings as a starting point I decided to create my own range which would be stylish, very high quality, but above all, really beautiful - things tht people would want to have in their homes.  I am incredibly proud of the results."


Having studied art
at school,  Mary-Ann focused on building a home and a family in her 20s and 30s and it was only until in her late 30s that Mary-Ann started dabbling again, painting large, contemporary bold an colourful pictures she could hang at home.

Fine bone china mugs, hand decorated and fired in Stoke on Trent, feature images of beautiful pom pom flowers

by Mary-Ann Watt. 

Cotton cushion individually hand-painted with pink blossoms by Mary-Ann Watt.

It was an obvious leap she made from her paintings to a range of homeware including placemats and aprons, cushion covers, trays, fine bone china mugs and jugs as well as greeting cards and postcards. If you like her art, framed prints and original paintings are also sold in her website.

Mary-Ann has now enlisted her marketing consultant husband to look after the sales and marketing side of the business so she can concentrate on the creative aspects.  Now business is flourishing and she has plans to extend her range of products.  She said the majority of her suppliers are small UK businesses as the personal relationships an the high quality of their work are both key to maintaining the signature look and feel of the artist.