Rising label Staffonly tells CDLP how it channels the innovative, now-and-near future vibe of contemporary Chinese fashion

Staffonly is a forward-thinking contemporary menswear label set up in 2015 by two lifelong friends and designers, Shimo Zou and Une Yea, following their respective graduations in London, after which they relocated to Shanghai. The label offers a fresh take on traditional menswear by harnessing sharp concepts, and by incorporating a variety of innovative materials in creating functional and sculpted silhouettes. 

Shimo Zou and Une Yea

In keeping with much of contemporary Chinese fashion design, the brand is eclectic, witty and bold. The Staffonly man the pair design for “always has an abundance of curiosity, a sense of humour”, and is willing “to break the rules and explore today’s unknown era of the world”.

Explain the designers: “Our design team looks into topics and themes relevant to everyone – at least the people in cities of China at the moment. It’s about the current lifestyle and thinking bubbles. What we have done is to reflect what we have seen and heard, in our own witty and ironic narrative way.” 

Such a fluid fashion mindset has seen the accolades flow thick and fast in China’s booming fashion market. Part of the Labelhood platform in China, which showcases emerging designers, the brand was most recently selected as one of six finalists for the Business of Fashion China Prize; the label currently sells in prestigious retailers including Lane Crawford, Machine-A, Dover Street Market Beijing and I.T. 

Last year, Staffonly collaborated with Japan’s Onitsuka Tiger, updating the Serrano sneaker for the 70th anniversary of the sports and fashion brand. Among a series of intriguing design innovations, Zou added buckles on the front of the sneaker, inspired by traditional Chinese robes, for novelty. 

The term ‘Made in China’ no longer equates with ‘cheap’ and ‘large-scale production’ now

Zou and Yea are acutely conscious that China’s global fashion moment, despite the global pandemic, is now at hand. “The term ‘Made in China’ no longer equates with ‘cheap’ and ‘large-scale production’ now,” they say. “With more and more creative thinking and design forces merging into Chinese brands, the term ‘Made in China’ has gradually become a symbol we can be proud of. ‘Made in China’ means something very different to people today and brings with it a new message to the world.”

Zou grew up in Shenzhen, then studied womenswear at London College of Fashion, followed by an MA in Menswear Design. During that time, she honed her design skills at prestigious fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen, Erdem and Tom Ford. Likewise, Yea obtained a Masters in Accessory Design at the Royal College of Art and won Best Fashion Item in Paris in 2014 for her “Are We Slaves of Objects Around Us” collection; she also worked as a menswear designer at Armani’s Milan headquarters. 

For autumn/winter 2020, under the theme “Set Up a Memorial for Those Things That Never Happened”, the pair has channelled influences from writing to Vancouver, Canada-based British artist David Spriggs, in what they say is a story about imagination and the creative process itself. “We prefer to extract the vibe and emotions from what we have seen and heard when we digest our ideas for designing, instead of directly translating artistic visual elements,” they explain. “The lightness and void in Spriggs’s work is a new language for us and that inspires us to describe poetic blurred boundaries.” Ultimately, the collection is about future possibilities, and the ambiguous boundary that lies between imagination and reality.

The oversized parka/bomber jacket featuring unconventional details has become one trademark look of Staffonly style, while in this collection, a transformable hoodie resembles a sailor’s shirt. The hoodie embodies “the witty gene of Staffonly”. The pair have used the high-tech microfibre Ultrasuede on garments, a soft structure carrying a matte texture, with laser-cut sharp-but-soft edge overlaps. 

Staffonly first sold in Hong Kong through Lane Crawford with its autumn/winter 2016 collection. How do Zou and Yea compare and contrast Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese style? “Hong Kong citizens have strong personalities and their look is quite modern and smart,” says Zou. “But Mainland Chinese taste is somehow really dynamic, given the diversity of different cultural areas. Also, there’s this spirit of discovering undiscovered things. Chinese people are still forming their styles by trying everything bold, which for me is a phenomenon I love to see.” 

If you haven’t yet discovered Staffonly, it’s time to embolden your style.

Images: Staffonly

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