Who Is Huishan Zhang? The Dior-Trained Designer in the V&A Collection

Huishan Zhang is the designer most likely to come up when someone asks for a gown that looks couture and is not priced like couture. He is Chinese-born, London-based, Dior-trained, and in the permanent collection of the V&A. Here is the record.

Qingdao to London, by way of Paris

Zhang was born and raised in Qingdao, on the Chinese coast. He left at seventeen and spent time in New Zealand and in Paris before settling in London. He read BA Fashion at Central Saint Martins and stayed on for an MA in Pattern Cutting, which is the less glamorous of the two qualifications and the one that explains most about his clothes.

While he was still at Central Saint Martins, Delphine Arnault selected him personally for a placement at Dior in Paris. He worked across leather goods and then inside the Haute Couture atelier. Couture ateliers are where garments are built rather than assembled, and a designer who has spent time in one tends to make things a particular way afterwards. You can see it in the internal structure of his bodices and in how his heavier fabrics hold a shape without help.

The V&A, and why it matters

In May 2012 the Victoria and Albert Museum acquired his couture dragon dress for its permanent collection. He was the first Chinese contemporary fashion designer the museum had collected. Museum acquisition is not a marketing award, and it is not something a young label can lobby for. It is a curatorial judgement that a piece is significant enough to keep, and it happened in the same year he founded the house.

Browns bought that first collection when he showed it. A London boutique buy and a V&A acquisition in a designer’s first year is a rare pairing.

The awards, in order

• 2014. Elle China names him International Chinese Designer of the Year. The Business of Fashion puts him in its BoF 500.
• 2015. BoF 500 again. Shortlisted for the LVMH Prize, the most closely watched award in emerging luxury.
• 2016. BFC Fashion Trust award. The British Fashion Council backs designers it expects to still be there in a decade.
• 2017. Nominated for the Vogue Fashion Fund.

What the clothes actually are

The house shows four collections a year and keeps a flagship on Mount Street in Mayfair. The work sits in occasion dressing: gowns, embellished cocktail dresses, jacquard coats and jackets, and a growing set of separates that let you buy into the house without buying a floor-length gown.

The recognisable Huishan Zhang piece is built from a decorative woven fabric, usually a jacquard, a duchesse satin, a fil coupe, an embroidered tulle, cut to a clean architectural line and then finished by hand. The decoration is Chinese in reference. The silhouette is European. That combination is the whole proposition, and he has been consistent about it since 2012.

Across the 240 pieces Coveti carries, dresses and gowns run from $1,000 to $9,430, with the median a little over $2,700. Separates start lower: skirts from $700, trousers from $600. So the house is reachable well below gown prices if you want the make without the occasion.

Where it is sold

Alongside Coveti, Huishan Zhang is stocked by Selfridges, Harrods, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Net-a-Porter, and through the brand’s own Mount Street flagship. It is a deliberately short list for a house of this age.

Who it is for

Two groups, mostly. Women dressing for a calendar of real occasions, weddings, galas, awards evenings, diplomatic functions, who want something made rather than manufactured. And women who need covered occasion dressing, long sleeves and a higher neckline, without giving up the decoration. The house cuts for that second group directly, which is still uncommon at this level.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Huishan Zhang?

Huishan Zhang is a Chinese-born, London-based fashion designer who founded his own luxury womenswear house in 2012. He trained at Central Saint Martins and at Dior in Paris, where he worked in the Haute Couture atelier. The V&A acquired one of his couture dresses for its permanent collection in May 2012.

Where is Huishan Zhang from?

He was born and raised in Qingdao, China, and left at seventeen. He lived in New Zealand and in Paris before settling in London, where the house is now based.

Did Huishan Zhang work at Dior?

Yes. Delphine Arnault selected him personally for a placement at Dior in Paris. He worked across leather goods and inside the Haute Couture atelier, and that training is the clearest thing about the clothes he makes now.

What awards has Huishan Zhang won?

Elle China named him International Chinese Designer of the Year in 2014. The Business of Fashion listed him in its BoF 500 in 2014 and again in 2015. He was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize in 2015, received a BFC Fashion Trust award in 2016, and was nominated for the Vogue Fashion Fund in 2017.

Is Huishan Zhang in a museum collection?

Yes. In May 2012 the Victoria and Albert Museum in London acquired his couture dragon dress as a permanent piece, making him the first Chinese contemporary fashion designer the museum had collected.

What is Huishan Zhang known for?

Occasion dressing built on couture technique: jacquard, duchesse satin, hand embellishment and embroidery, applied to a European silhouette with a Chinese decorative vocabulary. Gowns and eveningwear are the core of it.

Keep reading

• Huishan Zhang sizing, with real garment measurements
• Brands like Huishan Zhang
• Where to buy Huishan Zhang
• Shop the full Huishan Zhang collection at Coveti