Consinee Group hosts fashion show at Cipriani Wall Street

On Wednesday, July 18, Consinee Group hosted their first ever fashion show at Cipriani Wall Street. The runway show included 45 womenswear and menswear looks made from the brand's signature cashmere. Consinee Group is known as the largest spinner and exporter of cashmere yarn, and works with notable brands including Chanel, Burberry, Acne, Ralph Lauren, J. Crew, Theory and Tory Burch.

“Out of every seven cashmere items sold in the world, one is made from Consinee yarn,” said Boris Xue, company chairman, in a statement.

The show, first of its kind and scale to be offered by a Chinese textile company in the U.S., was aptly titled “Into the Lines”, alluding to the conceptual interpretation of cashmere yarn. The event was timed to coincide with the annual Spin Expo, a large industry event featuring 400 fashion insiders, including representatives from leading fashion brands and Consinee’s long-time US clients.

Consinee Group hosts first fashion show in New York

This debut show was under the creative direction of Chinese-German designer Yujia, a consulting designer with Valentino Haute Couture and Dior Haute Couture. “Rather than presenting a conventional knitwear collection the ’Into the Lines’ show contemplates and explores the luxury of cashmere and its sundry potentials activated through a synthesis with new disciplines,” she said in a statement.

"We are in a unique position because we have our brand and our factory has been dedicated to cashmere yarn manufacturing for so many years," Xue said to FashionUnited.

Being the fashion capital of America, New York was only logical for Consinee Group to choose as the location for their fashion show. "New York is a good and active fashion city," Xue said to FashionUnited. "This is a very good consumer base, and in New York there's a consumer group who really knows fashion."

As globalized as the fashion industry has become, it is important we continue to support global organizations like these. "It's a very small world we live in, although we have a president that is trying to change a lot of that," said Fern Mallis, fashion consultant of her own eponymous firm and former senior vice president of IMG, to FashionUnited. "I'd be curious to see what all these tariffs will do and how they will impact these cashmeres and fibers coming into the country. China supplies a lot of goods in this industry and a lot of merchandise was made there. That could be a steep change. I think it's great to show what China is capable of and what they are doing. They aren't big cashmere producers like that here in the U.S."

As the fashion industry begins to focus more on sustainability. cashmere production is increasingly important given its longevity as a fiber. "Cashmere is the real deal," Mallis said to FashionUnited. "It's not synthetic. It's a more sustainable product to work with, and that's what luxury is about. It's about having products made from beautiful things that take time. If you had your choice, wouldn't you rather have a cashmere sweater than anything else. It's important to support people doing great work no matter where in the world they are."

The fashion debut was directed by fashion veteran Christina Neault, who was the executive producer of IMG’s NYFW and is currently the fashion programming consultant at Pier 59 Studios—one of the major venues for New York Fashion Week and a premiere multimedia studio.

Planning, production and PR was executed and led by China Fashion Collective, a New York-based fashion and related industries branding consultancy and fashion show platform with years of experience in presenting Chinese brands to international audiences, including entering the NYFW Official Schedule, and working with international luxury partners in understanding and targeting HNW Chinese demographics.

photos: courtesy of NY China Fashion Collective