Despite the autumn chill and rain, many people gathered in Beijing as the city transformed into a venue for meetings in fashion, diplomacy, and cultural interaction. The Jinshang Fashion Week event, themed 'Golden Thread 2026,' attracted participants from over ten countries, representatives from more than thirty embassies, and fashion enthusiasts from across the city.
Since the opening of Jinshang Square in 2016, this was only the second fashion-related event to take place there. The ambition of the venue is to create a platform where culture and creativity can integrate into daily life.
Founder Lillian Tian, a native of Beijing, notes that the city has become both her hometown and a constant classroom, shaping her perspective and inspiring her desire to contribute to society. During an interview after the show, she stated: 'The heart shapes the environment, and the environment shapes the heart.'
Tian emphasized that fashion is a powerful expression of personality, and therefore deserves a space that stimulates creativity and meaningful connections. She added that Jinshang Square is a place created with great care and passion, bringing together artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and diplomats, providing opportunities for people from different walks of life to meet and exchange ideas.
Her connections with diplomats have developed over more than ten years, contributing to the organization of such events and positioning China as the 'golden thread' connecting dialogue. Thus, the event serves as both a fashion exhibition and a living demonstration of cultural diplomacy. Through textiles, craftsmanship, and inspired fashion, the diplomatic community of Beijing creates a space for the meeting of Eastern and Western traditions in a new format.
Lillian Tian noted that China is home to one of the world's greatest civilizations, whose cultural heritage spans five thousand years. She believes that this heritage is not limited to museums or historical books but lives in design, materials, traditions, and the details of daily life. She also stressed that true cultural exchange goes beyond fashion or art, occurring through lifestyle, shared experiences, and the daily existence of people, which transforms cultural differences into mutual understanding.
Every exquisitely designed piece presented on the runway served as an introduction to another culture—from Equatorial Guinea to Turkey, Ethiopia, Slovakia, Dominican Republic, and other countries. This sense of cultural significance extends beyond the runway. Tian believes that the Chinese audience is increasingly interested in international high fashion, which offers meaning alongside beauty. These consumers travel well, are confident in their culture, and are less interested in wearing logos merely for the logo's sake; instead, they want to know who created the item, why it was created, and what cultural story it carries.
She stated that people seek meaning as much as they seek beauty, demanding exceptional craftsmanship, a compelling story, and a unique creative vision. This emphasis on meaning and craftsmanship extends to sustainability issues. As China implements green development under Plan-5, Tian insists on the importance of creating fashion with greater responsibility and care. She argues that there is a natural link between traditional values and modern sustainability. Chinese traditions have long emphasized repair, reuse, passing down items through generations, and creating durable objects, reflecting respect for materials, craftsmanship, and the resources invested in creation.
Today, designers explore similar concepts through natural dyes, hand embroidery, thoughtful material selection, and slow production processes. When an item is created with meticulousness and designed to be valued for years rather than discarded after a season, it becomes part of a more responsible approach to fashion. For her, heritage and sustainability are closely linked: one stems from the wisdom of the past, and the other from the pressing priorities of the future.
This link between heritage and the future was supported by Christoph Manke, a German philosopher and visiting professor at Peking University specializing in aesthetics. He also told CGTN that contemporary fashion uses resources from both the past and the present to shape the future. He noted that combining different cultures is always a good idea, but he was most interested in how different cultures maintain productive relationships with themselves, not just with each other, and how they can use their traditions creatively and innovatively to not just repeat the past, but to look forward and redefine themselves.
Manke concluded that the ability to reinterpret one's own traditions for the future is relevant to any culture. He suggested that China does this daily and is very open to seeing how it works in other parts of the world—to learn from them, and also to encourage and unite them in a space where these various experiments can occur in parallel dialogue.
This same balance of heritage and innovation is transforming China's global fashion identity. Tian said that the country remains a major buyer, but she expects its influence as a host and trendsetter to grow. It is important to note that the exchange is becoming two-way: international houses are now coming to China not only to reach consumers but also to seek opportunities for collaboration with local creators. Tian believes that the next chapter of 'Made in China' should symbolize intention, originality, exceptional craftsmanship, and responsibility towards people, culture, and the planet. She concluded that the future of global fashion will be defined by such mutual exchange, where different cultures contribute equally and together create something new.
