For 22 seasons, Shanghai’s independent fashion incubation platform Labelhood has championed a new generation of Chinese design talent. Co-founded by Tasha Liu, the platform has become a key figure in shaping China’s contemporary fashion landscape, discovering, supporting and elevating emerging designers. Offering a much-needed space for experimentation and learning, Labelhood is more than a launchpad for young talent, it acts as a community fostering creative exchange and connecting homegrown designers with a wider international audience. Fresh from presenting its SS27 cohort at Shanghai Fashion Week, we spoke to Liu about Labelhood’s vision and ambitions, and get to know a selection of the designers shaping its latest season.

Tasha Liu, LABELHOOD co-founder

What are you most excited about this season?
“What excites me most is seeing how Chinese designers continue to grow and find their own voices. Every season brings something new, whether it’s discovering fresh talent or seeing designers we’ve worked with for years take their ideas in new directions.

This season, I’m particularly excited about how we’re bringing fashion week and retail closer together. Retail has always been at the heart of Labelhood, and for us, fashion doesn’t end when the runway show is over. Through our own Labelhood stores, as well as the independent stores of designers we work with, we want to create more opportunities for people to discover Chinese fashion beyond the shows.

During this fashion week, we also supported the opening of new stores for Yangkehan and Samuel Gui Yang, while connecting with designers like Shushu/Tong and Markgong through their own retail spaces. I love the idea that someone might discover a designer on the runway, then step into their store, experience the collection up close and become part of that brand’s world. It’s about making fashion week feel more connected to the city and to everyday life. And of course, I always love seeing how people come together during fashion week. For me, it’s always about the people as much as the fashion.”

It’s the 22nd season, what have you learned through the years?
“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that building a fashion community takes time, trust and a lot of patience. When we started Labelhood, we wanted to create more opportunities for Chinese independent designers to be seen. But after 22 seasons, I’ve realised that visibility is just the beginning. What’s equally important is what happens next – how designers grow, build their brands, connect with consumers and develop their own communities. And I’ve learned that you can’t build a community overnight. It’s really about the relationships you develop over time, and people continuing to show up for one another. That’s something we’ve always believed in at Labelhood.”

What’s a common theme you see throughout this year’s brands/collections?
“I think there’s a growing confidence among Chinese designers in expressing who they are. Rather than following one particular trend, they’re becoming more comfortable exploring their own ideas, cultural references and personal experiences. We’re also seeing a stronger interest in craftsmanship, with designers experimenting with traditional techniques, materials and innovative approaches to construction, and bringing them into a contemporary context. We see that in Youtopia too, where this year’s eight fashion finalists created new work around the theme All Creatures Great & Small. Their interpretations were all so different, and I think that freedom to experiment is really exciting. For me, that’s what makes Chinese fashion interesting right now. There isn’t just one way to define Chinese design. Everyone is finding their own language, and I love seeing that diversity.”

MARKGONG

Tell us about the themes and inspirations behind your collection this season.
“Til We’re Us is the second chapter of Markgong’s Urban Love story. It explores the moment when the Gong Girl stops playing with ambiguity and instead surrenders to an all-consuming infatuation: her brain writes a love story, casts the wrong person, and refuses to cancel the show. The inspiration comes from the emotional loop of checking messages, searching for traces of him online, preparing for a date that may never happen, sending signals, and trying on a softer, more “girlish” version of herself. The collection follows that arc – from infatuation and joy to disappointment and anger, then toward release – and ends with her returning to herself, “awake to it all,” before letting herself drown.

What are some of the techniques and fabrications you have introduced or explored?
“Alongside our signature lace, the season works in feathers, sequins, and sheer tulle. Leather and structured silhouettes give way to liquid sequins and tiered ruffles; hard lines soften and clear boundaries blur. The collection contrasts this new softness and lightness with the brand’s sharper codes – black and leopard print return whenever emotion demands it. Sexiness is treated not as controlled provocation but as a series of tentative tests, expressed through layered ruffles, sheer fabrics, sequin surfaces, and feather detailing.”

SHUSHU/TONG

Tell us about the themes and inspirations behind your collection this season.
“This season’s collection – Darling Melancholy – draws inspiration from Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. We explored how vivid colours can hold complex emotions – sweetness, sadness and everything in between.”

What are some of the techniques and fabrications you have introduced or explored?
“We explored three-dimensional floral beading, sculptural pleated bows, translucent spacer fabrics and terry textures, bringing a playful, sporty lightness to our feminine silhouettes.”

How does Shanghai as a location feed into your design?
“Shanghai’s mix of everyday energy and contrasts feeds into our design, inspiring us to bring romantic details into a contemporary wardrobe.”

YIRANTIAN

Tell us about the themes and inspirations behind your collection this season.
“Following [previous collections] Intuitionist and Her Note,” the SS27 collection, Rooted Grace, continues the brand’s exploration of women’s inner experiences through clothing. The collection traces a woman’s emotions as they unfold and shift – from passion and independence to tenderness and vulnerability – capturing the moments in which she recognises herself, or becomes herself anew.”

What are some of the techniques and fabrications you have introduced or explored?
“We explored extensive colour blocking and the interplay of different materials. The technique of layering double fabrics runs throughout the collection, particularly in the construction of our bustiers and jackets, creating a sense of depth and dimension through the combination of colours, textures, and layers.”

How does Shanghai as a location feed into your design?
“Shanghai’s cultural diversity and urban energy inspire me to explore contrasts between strength and softness, tradition and modernity, shaping our distinctive design language.”

CHÉN SIFĀN

Tell us about the themes and inspirations behind your collection this season.
“This season is rooted in Jia Pingwa’s novel Fei Du (The Ruined City). The novel is set in China in the 1980s-1990s, a period of rapid social development and drastic urban transformation. It follows a group of intellectuals in Xi’an and portrays their spiritual crisis and sense of spiritual ruin amid dramatic change. The brand’s focus this season is on the brick-and-stone textures of the city, and how the novel’s visual elements correspond to the intellectuals’ spiritual ruin. The overall mood remains restrained decadence and literati dignity.”

What are some of the techniques and fabrications you have introduced or explored?
“This season we retain the brand’s signature tailoring, especially in our treatment of Zhongshan suit (Mao suit) structures. We are not simply destroying its surface texture; instead, we dissolve the heavy, structured parts into a more minimal form, taking only the collar silhouette. Technically, we introduce a double-layer printing technique this season, applying the novel’s pomegranate flowers, doves, the cow and imagery of the characters across the prints. For fabric, we use handwoven cashmere, handwoven in sand and yellow-earth (loess) tones to simulate the textures of city walls and ancient architecture.”

How does Shanghai as a location feed into your design?
“Shanghai influences the brand as a whole, not just this season. The city is defined by the conflict between old and new, between old and new architecture, and by its position as a meeting point of East and West. Its architecture and urban atmosphere shape the entire brand.”

YANGKEHAN

Tell us about the themes and inspirations behind your collection this season.
“The SS27 collection draws inspiration from the landscapes and local customs of Yunnan. Each season, we select a distinct cultural backdrop as our source of inspiration. We translate the human stories, historical totems, flora, fauna and architectural styles we observe into hand-drawn prints, or craft silhouettes through draping. With garments bearing the signature aesthetic of Yangkehan, we bring these stories to life.

Featured in the SS27 line are rare Yunnan bird species: the great hornbill and sunbird. Rather than appearing as standalone avian illustrations, they are integrated into paintings, which in turn become part of the apparel. Among other animal motifs is the Yunnan cloud leopard, a charming element of this season. Also showcased are Yunnan ferns, vibrant red dahlia, the mysterious yet toxic Tacca chantrieri (black bat flower), and delicate pink nomocharis. Beyond that, patterns of Yunnan’s ethnic minorities serve as another wellspring for our prints. The Naxi people are one of Yunnan’s ethnic groups; we hand-draw traditional Naxi Eight Treasures emblems to create our Eight Treasures print. Through romantic, layered colours and playful silhouettes, we aim to infuse wearers with unique energy and joy.”

What are some of the techniques and fabrications you have introduced or explored?
“We’re committed to romantic colour palettes. Yet to bring these hues to life, different fabrics demand distinct treatments. Even for the same fabric, a wide range of finishing techniques are available. Printing is the most common method for silk fabrics. For our SS26 collection inspired by Sanxingdui, we applied gold foil stamping on silk to achieve an antique bronze finish. In the FW26 collection, drawing inspiration from 1920s Shanghai, we rendered prints on silk through flocking to capture the opulence of Art Deco. For velvet, we have experimented with etched printing. This technique uses etching to strip colour from selected areas of the fabric before re-dyeing them according to the print pattern. We have also deployed this process on denim and cotton velour. We adopted this technique because these materials have substantial thickness; regular prints cannot penetrate them and would result in inferior visual quality, which led us to develop etched printing.

In addition, we utilise cut pile, alongside other post-finishing processes such as washing and special-machine stitching. Ultimately, all techniques serve to realise the ideal aesthetic of our creations.”

How does Shanghai as a location feed into your design?
During the brand’s early phase, Shanghai Fashion Week served as a key buying marketplace in China. It offered the brand a robust commercial platform. Buyers brought insights from various regions, allowing us to receive valuable feedback promptly and make appropriate adjustments to our designs. Shanghai has consistently delivered strong market response for us. It boasts a rich fashion ecosystem, and local consumers possess solid aesthetic sensibilities. Now that we have opened a standalone boutique in Shanghai, we hope customers here can share direct feedback from fittings and everyday wear — such as garment comfort, or which silhouettes work better for different body types. These insights help us better understand our audience during product development. Rather than merely focusing on the artistic concepts we wish to express, we ensure our pieces can truly fit real-life needs.”