Beijingers wear it cool

Designer Karen Walker is thrilled to note the city's hunger for style. Sun Yuanqing reports.

Karen Walker did not know how popular her sunglasses were in China until she arrived in Beijing about two months ago. During a short car ride from her hotel to one of the boutique stores that sell her products, she spotted four people wearing them.

"I was looking out of the window the whole time. When I saw the first one, it was like 'wow', and then 'oh, another one', and then another one. It was really exciting," the New Zealand designer says on the sidelines of a promotional event for her spring/summer 2014 collection in the Coterie store, China's exclusive distributor of Karen Walker eyewear.

The collection debuted at New York Fashion Week earlier this year.

Walker says she is thrilled to see how "cool" Beijingers wear her fashion products in many interesting ways.

"Every city has its style. Here it seems that it's turned up a little bit more. Los Angeles, for instance, is more pulled back. Here, fashion is more intensified. I think our glasses fit really well in it," she says.

Known for her quirky style, Walker pushed things to another level this season. She took some of her signature eyewear designs, including Deep Freeze, Number One and Super Duper Strength, and reworked them with bigger black frames and semi-transparent lenses, with intense colors such as bright orange and turquoise placed alongside golden glitters.

"I really like the idea of exaggerating classics. We play around with the idea of renewing our classics and exaggerating them but keep them minimal," Walker says.

She jokes that "one of the fun things about sunglasses is that you get to spy on people", but quickly adds that people are able to hold conversations even while wearing her latest sunglasses.

"It does block the sunlight, but you can still interact with people as your eyes are still visible. It's really a nice change, not something (through which) you don't see the eyes at all."

Being visible is a part of the brand's new campaign called "Karen Walker Visible". The label was involved in efforts by the United Nations' ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative to create jobs for small artisans in Kenya.

Sunglasses were sold to buyers along with printed pouches that were made by the label and the artisans, who also starred in the new campaign.

One of New Zealand's most noted designers, Walker exhibited her first collection of products in 1998 and now holds shows each season at the New York Fashion Week.

She has expanded from designing womenswear to sunglasses, jewelry and shoes.

Her products have been used by Western style icons such as Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Alexa Chung and Chinese actresses Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbing.

"When you see somebody, your eyes meet their eyes. That's how we connect as human beings. That's one reason why sunglasses are such an important part of people's looks. It can be the last thing that you put on, but can totally change your whole outfit," Walker says.

Contact the writer atsunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

The designer renews the classics in her latest collection with bigger frames and intense colors. Photos provided to China Daily

New Zealand designer Karen Walker visits the Coterie store in Beijing for a promotional event for her spring/summer 2014 collection.