Opening Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Yang Yanyi, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU at the Chinese Fashion Night

HE Ambassador Yang Yanyi at the Chinese Fashion Night on 21 October 2015, taking place at Brussels Chinese Culture Center.

“Mr. Yan Zhenquan, Director of the China Culture Center in Brussels, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my great pleasure to join you at the Opening Ceremony of the Chinese Fashion Night. On behalf of the Chinese Mission to the EU and on my own behalf, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all to this auspicious event. I wish to especially express our heartfelt appreciation to Grace Chen, one of the most celebrated and influential couture designers in China, and Tiffany Pattinson a designer of no limit for honoring this event with their presence and unique pieces of fashion designs. As part and parcel of the series events marking the 40th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations, the Chinese Fashion Night is designed both for fashion designers and business people to look for market intelligence and inspiration, and most importantly for our peoples to get together and appreciate each other’s culture and civilization. In this connection, I am proud to say that contrary to assumptions that fashion is something peculiarly Western, over the course of China’s 5000-year-old civilization, fashions have always been a vital part of Chinese life and culture. Especially over the past three decades, along side socio-economic transformation and upgrading of people’s living standard, there have been vibrant developments in fashion and dress in China and emergence of cross-time and cross-culture fashion designers like Grace Chen who have become important players in both the local and international markets. As a great civilization, Europe has come a long way in fashion and costume design. Since the early 1900s when Paul Poiret, the greatest couturier of the 20th century, staged the first fashion show in Paris, Europe has been closely followed for emerging macro-trends, street style fashion and best collections, and has become more and more a hub of West meeting East. So today, at the heart of Europe and a world-class design and fashion centre, the China Fashion Night offers us an excellent opportunity to appreciate the brand and style of Grace Chen’s design, the marriage of universal values of fashion, luxury appeal of western bespoke and delicate authenticity of oriental elegance. There is no doubt that this kind of communication and exchanges will enable our fashion designers to continue to scale new heights of excellence and inspire our peoples to develop good taste for styles of grace. Finally, I would like to wish you all an enjoyable and productive Chinese Fashion Night. Thank you.”