A few designers worth spending time with from Shanghai Fashion Week SS27. Editor-in-Chief Perspective.
When I look through fashion week collections, I’m always curious about the people behind the clothes. What are they drawn to? What do they want us to notice? Looking through Shanghai’s Spring/Summer 2027 lineup, I kept coming back to how differently its designers approach those questions. There’s HEMU’s love of Chinese textiles, STAFFONLY’s sense of humor, and Comme Moi’s understanding of a woman who knows what she likes. Each gives us a different reason to take a closer look.
This season’s presentations ran from October 8 to 16, 2026, under the theme “Renewed Radiance,” with trade fairs, exhibitions and other events extending the conversation across the city. There’s a lot to explore, but these are a few of the labels I wanted to spend more time with.
HEMU: a closer look at the handwork
HEMU opened the runway program at Xintiandi’s Taipinghu Park on October 8 with “Silk Road.” Drawing on Dunhuang, the collection brought together Chinese textile traditions including brocade, kesi silk tapestry and embroidery. The label worked with Yunjin master Jin Wen, looking to historic silk textiles and embroidered fragments as part of the design process.
I have a soft spot for clothes that send me down a rabbit hole about how they were made. HEMU, founded in Shanghai in 2010, gives you plenty to be curious about. In the look pictured here, folds of earthy brown, muted blue and gold gather across the shoulder and fall into a long skirt. It’s the kind of piece I’d want to see up close, then ask a few questions about.
STAFFONLY: a little room to play
STAFFONLY, founded in London and now based in Shanghai, takes an interest in contemporary life, the groups we belong to and the things we tend to overlook. There’s humor in the way the label describes its work, and an encouragement to stay curious. I like that. Getting dressed can be a place to play, too.
The label presented at Xintiandi on October 9. The look pictured here caught my eye for its bright pink and blue against green and black, balanced with a pair of dark shorts. There’s a lot happening in the jacket, and the simpler bottom half gives you room to appreciate it. I’m always interested in that balance between something unexpected and something familiar.
Comme Moi: knowing what you like
Comme Moi means “like me” in French, which feels like a lovely place to begin. Founded by model Lü Yan in 2013, the label speaks to women who trust their own taste and appreciate good cut and texture. Its October 10 presentation at Xintiandi brought another perspective to the lineup.
The white blouse and dark trousers pictured here are the sort of combination I’d happily spend time looking at. The volume in the sleeve, the detail at the neck and the way the trousers fall give familiar pieces a presence of their own. I can appreciate a dramatic runway moment, but I’m also drawn to clothes I can imagine someone making her own.
There’s more to spend time with
YIRANTIAN, also on the October 10 schedule, is another label worth exploring. Its focus on cut, fabric development and everyday dressing for urban women adds to what I find interesting about this lineup: there are different ways into it, depending on what you love about clothes.
And having worked on the creative and production side, I’m interested in what happens after the runway, too. MODE ran October 8–12, alongside the wider program of showrooms and industry discussions. Those conversations matter. Behind a collection are people trying to get their work in front of buyers and, eventually, into the hands of someone who will love wearing it.
That’s where I’d like to keep looking: at the designers, the details and the ideas that make us pause. These few labels are a starting point. If one sends you looking up a textile technique, saving a look or discovering a designer you hadn’t followed before, there’s already something worth taking away.
