‘Made In China’ During Shanghai Fashion Week

A love letter to local partners and a message to the global fans of the brand.

 

Extreme Cashmere is proud to present ‘Made in China,’ an installation and campaign in line with the Amsterdam-based label’s longtime mission: to make cashmere for everybody and every body; with no limits and no concessions; for all seasons and all occasions.

“The reason why extreme cashmere exists — and why the product is so good — is because of Hangzhou,” says Dijkstra, adding that the ‘Made in China’ campaign is as much a love letter to her local partners as it is a message to global fans of the brand.

“‘Made in China’ often has negative connotations, but I’ve been travelling to these factories for 30 years and knew it was time to tell the story of what that label means to us. And to do so in China, with existing and new friends of the brand, was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.” 
The event, which will take place during Shanghai Fashion Week, takes the name of the brand’s latest campaign. Photographed by Dan McMahon in Hangzhou, ‘Made in China’ stars factory partners and street-casted local residents of all ages and backgrounds — real people with real stories, who the team encountered over the course of a week-long travelling shoot.

The personalities include local teammates Lai Ming Mun and Ye Liyan, with whom Dijkstra has worked for 20 years; 75-year-old tea farmers Mr and Mrs. Sun, who live in Yunqihuayuan village and fed the team a memorable dumpling lunch; and Zhang Xinya, a 7-year-old girl nicknamed ‘Huamei’ after the snack of salty dried plums, who was spotted speeding through Dongyuan Park on roller skates.

Other chance meetings introduced the team to Mrs. Yang, a sanitation worker in her 50’s who wore an infectious smile in spite of her demanding work; Mr. Cai, an Anhui-burn vagabond making a habit of spontaneous trips during his gap year; and stylish salesperson Ms. Wang, who’s honed an impressive knack for the claw machine during her lunch breaks.

New and old friends were styled in a mix of extreme cashmere’s signature knits and their own clothes to celebrate not only the product itself — unisex, effortlessly wearable cashmere of the highest quality — but the people who help the label’s designs come to life, in the factories and on the streets. Both are sources of immense pride for the extreme cashmere team, who look forward to connecting with the brand’s Chinese community between the 11th and 13th October in the country’s fashion capital.

Indeed, though the presentation marks extreme cashmere’s first gathering in China, its ties to the country are decades old. For years, founder Saskia Dijkstra worked in manufacturing while living in Hong Kong, which led her to launch her own label in 2016; since then, the business has worked closely with the aforementioned factories in Hangzhou to realise its beloved cashmere.
To that point, the presentation will not only showcase the ‘Made in China’ images but display pieces from extreme cashmere’s collection for a tactile and immersive experience of the brand’s namesake knit.