Week In Review: April 23-27, 2012

In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of April 23-27. Jing Daily Interview: Fashion Photographer & Artist Quentin Shih Perhaps best known for his controversial 2010 Dior “Shanghai Dreamers” campaign, Tianjin-born, New York and Beijing-based artist Quentin Shih (时晓凡) is one of the most highly regarded and sought-after Chinese fashion photographers. The self-taught artist, who cut his teeth shooting his hometown’s underground music and art scenes, started his career off in Beijing, then New York, as a fine art photographer, turning increasingly to commercial and fashion work since 2007. Since then, Shih has shot campaigns for brands such as Adidas, Microsoft, Sony and Siemens, as well as spreads for major publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire. Most recently, Shih shot the “Lolita”-inspired lookbook for designer Liu Lu’s brand, Luvon, referenced in February by Hong Huang in her column for WWD, ChinaFile. Recently, Jing Daily engaged in a Q&A with Quentin Shih, discussing his recent work, new film project, and personal inspirations. International March Of Chinese Art Continues To Gain Pace As Chen Jianming, a vice chairman of the Chinese Society of Museums and the director of the Hunan Provincial Museum, told the New York Times, 395 museums were built across China last year. Though these museums were mostly devoted to history, Chen said more will be art-focused in the years ahead. Still, despite his optimism, Chen cautioned that the urgency to build venues for prestige (in the case of private builders or provincial authorities) may be leading to overcapacity, as ”there are not enough trained personnel to build collections and oversee educational programs, and some new museums will not have sufficiently high-standard collections.” With the number of art museums in the country increasing rapidly, Chinese curators are increasingly targeting the United States. Beijing Auto Show 2012: Luxury Automakers Unveil China-Focused Editions With the Beijing Auto Show in full swing, the world’s luxury automakers have started to roll out new models, either designed for the China market, or with China’s still-growing appetite for the ultra-luxury segment in mind. Yesterday, Jing Daily took a look at Bentley’s long-rumored Bentley’s EXP 9 F SUV concept which, if interest is high enough in China and elsewhere, the British marque may put into production as its third product line, alongside the Mulsanne and Continental. Today, Beijingers got their first peek at another — more overtly China-focused — set of vehicles, which Jing Daily profiled back in February: Aston Martin’s “Dragon88″ DBS Volante, Virage Coupe and V8 Vantage S Coupe. As the name implies, Aston Martin will produce only 88 of these “Year of the Dragon” units, offering them in a suitably understated range of color schemes: Volcano Red, Amethyst Red and Champagne Gold, finishing them out with 24-carat gold brand badges. Flash Sales & The Fashion Industry In Asia: For Better And For Worse If your favorite fashion brand never went on sale, would you still buy it? Consumers across Europe and North America would probably answer “no.” Why would they say yes? Given the current economic atmosphere and the proliferation of online discount retailers, buying at full price has fallen out of the norm. Online flash sales were introduced by the self-made, colorful French entrepreneur Granjon in 2001 as a way for brands to quickly clear surplus stock. His company, Vente-Privee.com, has been a huge success and is now competing for a bigger slice of the US market via a joint venture with American Express. Over the last several years, similar sites have popped up throughout the West, to the great satisfaction of consumers and brands alike. But is it really this simple? Gossip Girl Stars To Inaugurate China's First Harry Winston Flagship In Shanghai On Friday, April 27, luxury jeweler Harry Winston is set to open its largest global flagship in Shanghai, a sprawling 5,800 square meter space in the city’s plush Xintiandi neighborhood. Outfitted with two main halls and stocking fine jewelry, wedding jewelry and a range of watches, the store at 188 Tai Cang Road serves not only as brand’s first flagship in China, but a very lavish anchor for greater expansion efforts in the country. Currently, Harry Winston operates only two boutiques in China, one at the Peninsula in Beijing and another at Shanghai’s Peninsula Hotel, but starting with the new Xintiandi flagship, the jeweler plans to open several new locations in the country as part of its plan to open 50 new flagship stores worldwide by 2016.

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Week In Review: April 23-27, 2012