Active Expat Ladies in Beijing - or Selfmade Entrepreneurs

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I admire these active expat ladies !

Another bazar is coming up, this time on Wednesday, November 17 at East Lake Villas! In Sanlitun, Beijing, my old home! - And look at the flyer they made ! It is send out via email and probably hangs out at expat compounds, condos and supermarkets.

I love their "label" names : Shanghai Trio, Mandarine Coco, Tang' Roulou ... - and the money they have to pay for their bazar stand goes to charity. What a clever concept.

The products you can buy at these kind of bazaars that go round in the community are mainly designed by these active expat ladies and produced by Chinese workers or factories that they found suitable. Some other ladies import products you otherwise would not find in Beijing. And so they keep them self busy and try out entrepreneur's life. Some of the ladies are so successful that they have their own shops yet.

Take Shanghai Trio, they just opened a  shop at the new North Village in Sanlitun. They have already boutiques in Shanghai and Paris, but in Beijing they tried only bazars for a long time, or on appointment at home.

While in Beijing, my friend and I went to their shop and bought small bags in shiny red waterproofed material. Shanghai Trio is one of my favorites and I hope they survive the probably very high rental fees at North Village.

And long before Constance de Toldi, the organiser of the above "So French" bazar, started with her cashmere business, my friend Ira Walendy was already doing her private Cashmere Parties. Now, more ladies try their luck, also with kid's cashmere collections. Ira meanwhile concentrates on her 0813 spa collection , where she and her friend aim more at hotel shops to become customers.

Since this is a unpaid advertising post for all active expat ladies in Beijing, I want to name some more - also as inspiration for "still dreaming" expats - like me.

Some other successful entrepreneur ladies in Beijing :

Kathrin von Rechenberg : "tea silk" fashion made in China. Kathrin, originally from Munich, married to a Chinese, shows her collections at fashion shows at The Orchard Restaurant, shoes up at bazaars (preferred the Embassy house) and has her own shop in Sanlitun (near Embassy house) were she works and lives.

Rouge Baiser Elise  : home embroidered linen by Parisian Elise de St. Guilhem. After a successful shop in Shanghai, she opened one more boutique in Sanlitun, Beijing. This is run by some French ladies taking turns in the shop.

If home made necklaces or cashmere from the wool spinning city are not enough handcraft for you, I have two more examples of successful entrepreneurs: Take the French butcher Michel or the German bakery "Cafe Constance" (Konztanz). That's real business.

But I still dream small. Online sales, paypal payment... just don't have the product yet.

Find more inspiration via nicely made in China, a portal for quality products made in China aiming at export. You can browse by categories like DESIGN, FASHION, HANDMADE, CRAFTS. You will find the stories behind Shanghai Trio, Kathrin von Rechenberg and many more active expats that became entrepreneurs !

On the Street....at 798, Beijing

A big scary bag in Dashanzi (photo 2007).

Made in Beijing: 0813 beach + spa wear

0813 is a beach wear label which was created in Beijing in 2008 by two German fashion designers.

The label's clothing and accessories offer unique combinations inspired by the beach, spa and pool side.

It is offering relaxed easy pieces without missing the right bit of glamour:

Linen dresses and flower printed scarfs, yoga outfits, sleeveless dresses in terry cotton and big beach bags, ....







... hooded jumpers in terry cotton to snuggle up for kids, ...

... fine knitted tops with harem pants, ...

... effortless chic with embroidered tunic blouse, beach towels, wrapped beach skirt... long neck holder dress combined with chunky, silver pendants, pearls and stones, hand knitted hats, trendy handbags...

The two creative ladies, Karin Schneider is a clothing engineer and works all over Asia as quality manager and Ira Walendy is a fashion designer based in Beijing, target with their products the hotel business and its fashion boutiques. The brochure says: supporting your companies corporate identity we will provide you with sophisticated high quality and accessories customized to your requirements.

When you live or stay in Beijing you might choose to contact Ira at ira0813(at)live(dot)com to have a look at the bags or bikini wraps and all the other clothing. Ira also hosts cashmere parties at her home in Lanebridge where you can order custom made sweaters or jackets in your favorite colours, style and size.

On the Street....at 798, Beijing

I was so exited that The Sartorialist has been on the streets in Beijing. But I did not see enough Beijing street pictures on his blog. So I decided, to help out a bit .... copying is not a bad thing in China ....

I like my boots (Prada), I like the scarf I share with my husband (Walendy), I like my purple bag and my new hat (both from Jiayi market). The coat is from the "leather lady", the lining is silk with Chinese pattern from Muxiyuan market). Not too bad for someone who is not into fashion.

I was in Dashanzi today and was surprised how many interesting outfits were on the street. I guess, the Sartorialist has some more pictures for us soon. Or maybe we have to wait until the next Vogue China issue.

The Sartorialist in Beijing

The Sartorialist was in Beijing and this is the street picture he posted today on his blog.

Scott Schuman, the writer behind The Sartorialist, spent 15 years in sales and marketing dealing with department and specialty stores all around the world before he started his blog in September 2005. He always "felt that there was a disconnect between what I was selling in the showroom and what I was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life". He combined his passion for fashion and photography and shares his photos of cool people in the streets of New York, Milan and Paris on his blog. His Sartorialist blog is so popular that he gets over 23.000 page hits daily. And his latest news are that he is going to do a page every month in Vogue China starting January or February.

His trip to China was sponsored by Lane Crawford (store opening). Last week he was in Beijing. I am looking forward to more of his pictures from the streets of Beijing.


Here she is again, bigger than above - in typical 'Beijing Onion style'. This photo was taken by The Sartorialist last week at Dashanzi Art District (original 798 Factory) in Beijing.

Beijing: Beachvolleyball and Tips Before Wearing a Bikini

The final and the bronze medal match of the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball Women's Challenger were staged in Chaoyang Park in Beijing last Sunday. This was the first test event for Beach Volleyball one year before the Beijing Olympics. The Brazilian pair Angela Vieira/Danielle Vivian remained unbeaten for the title with a victory over the Chinese pair Yue Yuan/Zhang Wenwen. The Thai pair Kulna/Yupa Phokongpoly edged out the Swiss pair Sarah Schmocker/Isabelle Forrer to finish third.

The participants praised the venue and were happy to simulate the situation of the real Olympics, including weather conditions.

Source:
Pictures from Beach Volleyball 2007,


Will Beach Volleyball bring the 'Bikini' fashion to China?

The magazines this summer are full of sexy beach fashion. However, most of the Chinese women (as other Asian women as well) usually do not wear these two-peace beach wear. It is not decent to show bare skin and not popular to get a sun tan. So they avoid the beach, sit in the shadow or wear t-shirts for swimming. Quiet reasonable and healthy ...

But then there was this article in China Daily for Chinese women:

- Tips before wearing a bikini -

With the opening of China's economy, women are also becoming more open about showing their bodies, and they can do it with bikinis in the summer.

This swimwear is becoming popular among Chinese girls. But before wearing a bikini, there are a few things women need to know before donning a bikini.

Many women will try to lose weight before wearing a bikini. Yet fashion experts say that in order to look attractive in a bikini, the following things are more important than weight.

Tip 1: The color of your skin means much more than the color of the bikini you wear.

According to a survey conducted by an international fashion magazine, tanned looking skin is more attractive to men than perfect body curves on beaches. So when going to the beach, apply foundation darker than the one you use in office.

(...) And for a glittering touch, add shimmering powder to your collarbone, shoulders and cleavage to make you look sexier.

Tip 2: Pay attention to little corners of your body.

Women don’t pay enough attention to their backs, elbows and knees when in the office, but you need to make up for it before setting out for a beach.

Before you go, have a hot bath. It will help soften the hard skin on your back. If you can have someone scrub your back, it works even better.

For knees and elbows, apply a polishing cream with big grains in it to exfoliate the dead skin.

Bruises can also diminish the looks of a charming lady. The way to get rid of them is to use a tube of yellowish correcting cream, apply it to the bruised area, and then cover it with some dark foundation powder.

Tip 3: A bloated body is far from attractive

During traveling, lack of sleep and adapting to a strange place can both lead to a bloated body.

To prevent the body from swelling, don’t wear tight pants or socks and wear low-heeled shoes. If you body is bloated, here are four life savers:

No.1 Drink four to five glasses of Job's tears water (Chinese barley) the day before you go to the beach. This helps drain extra water from your body.

No.2 Massage slimming cream or massage oil onto your body for 15 minutes, and the next day you’ll have a slimmer body.

No.3 If you don’t notice you have a bloated body until just before starting for the beach, drink a cup of black coffee with an empty stomach and that can drain extra water out of the body quickly. But this method isn’t very good for the stomach, so avoid it if you have a weak stomach.

No.4 If all three above tips fail, here is the last suggestion. Make your arms look slimmer by putting your hands on your waist Akimbo arms make arms look slimmer and leaning the body forward at a 45 degree angle makes whole body appear slimmer!

Tip 4: Have a pair of charming feet.

A pair of neatly groomed feet adds to your charm. Moisturize your feet. Bathe them in hot water and then apply some body lotion to your feet. Wrap them with thin plastic wrap and warm the feet with hot towels for 10 minutes. Paint your toe nails. Pearly white and bright red are mostly commonly used nail colors. When applying nail polish, leave some room on nail edges to make nails look more delicate.

Tip 5: Give skin after-beach care.

Direct exposure to salty seawater and strong sun rays harms the skin and makes it dry and then peels. Some skin is even allergic to ultra violet rays. So it’s necessary to take special care of the skin within one hour after coming back from seaside.

Cool your whole body by having a green tea bath. Soak a make-up pad with a cooling lotion and then keep the pad in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Pat burning areas of the skin with this pad and keep it on sensitive areas like shoulders, back and chest for 20 minutes. After this cooling treatment, apply a soothing gel to supplement water to the skin.

(from China Daily, August 13th 2007)

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? What do you say?
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Dear China Girl, if you think about wearing a bikini, don't be afraid after that article. Life on the beach should be fun. And btw, who has hard skin on the back?

I don't know if the author of the article was male of female. It is quiet entertaining, but scary regarding this is meant seriously. One more tip from me, that was forgotten in the article and is the most important thing before going to the beach: SHAVING!

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I think the Chinese Beach Volleyball girls did all right, see picture above.
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Beijing: Cashmere Fashion by Walendy

Ira Walendy is a young fashion designer specialized in cashmere who has launched her own label 'Walendy' here in Beijing.

Ira is born in Germany and studied fashion design in Trier. She worked for international labels such as C&A, Esprit and Prada. In 2005, she has moved with her family, including her son, 8 and her daughter, 6 to Beijing. Since her arrival in China she searches all the markets back and forward week after week to find interesting material, pattern, borders and buttons to design clothes for her kids, husband and herself. Her kids basically do not know 'pret-a-porter' fashion except from their school uniforms. Everything they wear is a unicum designed by their creative mum.

She travels to the markets and tailors about two, three times a week to supervise the progress of her orders. Meanwhile fluent in Mandarin, she works close together with several small local knitting factories. Some of them are the same factories that deliver high quality material to well reputable European fashion brands such as 'Loro Piana" or 'Mulberry'.

End of 2006, Ira was ready to launch her first own label under her maiden name 'Walendy'. She offers custom made knitwear for the whole family: men's sweaters and shirts, ladies' jumpers / sweaters, cardigans, shirts and tops. But kids clothes are still her favorites. Her materials come in a wide range form light weight summer cashmere until eight threat yarn hand knitted winter cardigans with lots of precious details such as tonal embroideries or beautiful cable patterns.

She successfully presented her kid's cashmere collection to upper market children boutiques based in Dusseldorf and Munich, Germany, where they will be on sale this autumn.


Beijingers looking for some stylish, pretty neat knitwear can contact Ira by email to be included on her mailing list for her next 'Cashmere Party' at her home at Lanebridge. Her second party, presenting her summer Cashmere collection, just took place in May.

Ira is my friend since we first met in autumn 2005 at the Italian Embassy, where we both drop our kids on Saturdays for Italian school. I am very pleased and exited to introduce her on my blog today. We had lots of fun 'shooting' her collection at her house and garden. Actually Ira's private home was designed by the same interior designer who did the two 'Green T. House'. One more reason to visit Ira. Sign up here for her next info mail.

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The pink cashmere 'cache coeur' starts from 590 RMB (about 65 USD) for children, but can be ordered in bigger sizes. The green cotton lady shirt costs 410 RMB (about 45 USD).

Remark: After the summer holidays will be the right time to place orders for Christmas!

Photos by -Suzie-