Hundreds of fashion aficionados, business people, models, photographers and journalists from all over the world converged in Beijing to take part in China Fashion Week, which kicked off last Friday.

Held over seven days, with four professional contests, seven forums, 11 press conferences and 14 brand shows, the event, since opening on March 25 at the Beijing Hotel, has been gaining attention and momentum.

The week's catwalk shows offered an ample opportunity for designers from both home and abroad to show off their autumn and winter collections.

But it's not just the industry's established names that got a chance to show off their work at the Beijing Fashion Week. The event hosted the Hempel Award, the 13th International Fashion Contest for Young Designers, giving new talents from around the globe a chance to shine as well.

The contest raised the curtain of the week-long fashion festival, with a total of 37 new designers from 21 countries showing collections with the theme "Olympic Beijing Fantasy."

And two other important contests, the Weipeng Cup: the 2nd China Jeans Wear Design Contest and the Haosha Cup: the 2nd China Swimwear Design Contest also attracted dozens of up-and-coming youngsters in China's fashion scene.

The week came as a bit of a shock to some young designers, straight out of the rather closeted environs of design school and slap-bang into the maelstrom of the real fashion world.

Josephine Hui Ling Lee from Netherlands

"As a Dutch Chinese and a graduate from the Fashion Management Institute in Holland, I miss Chinese culture and want to make my career in my home country."

"The fashion week event is good, but if it can attract a well-known jury from the world's top institutes or working field, it can have a more international vision. Most winners of the Hempel awards are Chinese, which many foreign designers regard as a bit unfair."

"I think when Chinese designers present their work, they should pay more attention to the lighting and music onstage. Sometimes the music is too loud and doesn't apply to the clothing. "

"But the best thing is that I can gain a different point of view and learning experience from other contestants."

"Few Chinese get the chance to study in well-known foreign design schools. Many foreigners think China is not open to the other cultures, Asian cultures are short-sighted and too conservative. Some teachers don't even want to teach Chinese design students. It is very hard for Chinese designers to gain success in Europe. They must be more daring and pay more attention to the culture and art in other countries."

"Compared with world top fashion designs, Chinese clothes are always made with good materials, but the finishing touches are sometimes not presented well."

Marcel Dominic Ostertag from Germany

"It is really amazing to see so many different styles of design works during fashion week. It is good for designers from different cultures to communicate with each other here. I am also surprised to find so much media here. I don't know how much they will film back home, but they are definitely here. I never imagined that the event would be so big. "

"But it is also a great pity that the organization level is amateur. As a foreigner who doesn't understand Chinese, I find everything confusing. There are no translators and nobody explains to us what is going on."

"Sometimes I think the organizers are very impolite, for instance, during the rehearsal the directors kept shouting at us and the models, which is very rude in our culture. But if there were interpreters to explain to us what is happening and explain to us the cultural difference, I think it would be much better."

"We have no time to rest at all. The rehearsals run from seven o'clock in the morning until midnight. Everybody is exhausted. I will not attend such competitions any more. It is just too tiring."

Kaela Elese Hayes from Australia

"This is my first time to take part in an international competition. It is really exciting to find that China Fashion Week gathers so many shows together."

"Like other contestants, I have been working very hard to prepare for this week. I think the fashion week has opened a door on China to me... to understand the country and the culture here."

(China Daily April 1, 2005)