Zhang Zhifang claps in a crowd of models, both Chinese and foreign, after the NETiger 2011 fashion show. [Photo/China Daily]

Zhang Zhifang, founder and design director of NE·Tiger.[Photo/ China Daily]

The China International Fashion Week might just have wrapped up, but luxury fashion brand NE·Tiger is on the prowl to expand in 2011. Wang Wen discovers

Eight blond models wearing Hua Fu -top-of-the-line Chinese silk dresses - with hand-stitched Qiang ethnic group embroidery, recently walked the runway to the beat of Chinese drums. The women, along with another 60 Chinese models, were wearing outfits from the 2011 collection of Chinese designer brand NE·Tiger.

The fashion show, held on Oct 25 at the Golden Hall of Beijing Hotel, was also an opening show of this year's China International Fashion Week.

"Foreign models can represent the combination of Chinese and Western cultures," said Zhang Zhifeng, founder of NETiger.

"Also, Chinese dresses will be accepted more easily by Westerners after they have seen Western models in the show."

The theme of the show is "Tiangan Dizhi" (Heaven Stems and Earth Branches), which is more commonly understood by foreigners as the traditional system of using animals to represent time.

Inspiration for the dresses was taken from the Chinese zodiac culture, with Qiang embroidery working hand in hand with contemporary three-dimensional cutting techniques.

The 6,000-year-old Qiang ethnic group has been doing embroidery for at least 3,000 years. This massive length of time allowed the development of a unique artistic style, one which only 8,000 Qiang women are thought to have harnessed.

"Qiang embroidery is different from other types of embroidery in China," said Zhang, who is also the design director of the company. "It is more primitive and bold."

Zhang said the embroidery is powerful enough to create a stunning design, but should not be overused.

"The embroidery cannot be used for a large portion of a dress or it will lose its main feature," Zhang said.

The show opened with a black dress featuring a dragon embroidered in white thread. Heavy contrast in the lighting, coupled with strong background music, created an intentionally chaotic feel to the event.

The show went on to present 60 dresses in all, corresponding to a 60-year cycle in Chinese culture. The dresses were also arranged into five groups to match the five seasons of Chinese ancient times.

Each season was denoted a color, which are also the five favorite colors used by NETiger: green and black referred to spring, red was summer, yellow portrayed the season of long summer, white suggested autumn and blue meant winter.

Most of the dresses were made from pure silk or silk velvet, which were similar to the exclusive types used in the imperial palace in China's past.

Design-wise, they focused on the waistline rather than expose parts of the body, as a tribute to the traditionally-introverted Chinese character.

The main focus of the brand remained on luxury though, with the dresses costing at least 200,000 yuan each with no fixed limit. Dresses can be customized, with a selection of materials, techniques and accessories on offer.