Be careful, Milan. Shishi is on the slopes and has even built a 'Milan Plan' to replicate the supremacy of the Lombard city in the field of fashion in the Celestial Empire.
The scene is familiar: an army of buyers, journalists, celebrities and VIPs crowding around the catwalk while models and models stroll around swaying (the models) and slightly awkward (the models) and showing off the latest creations of the fashion greats. It could be Paris or New York or even – precisely – Milan; but we are instead in Shishi, a coastal town in southern China, facing the Taiwan Strait.
Shishi is a manufacturing center of the garment industry and has attracted talented designers. It wants to be more than a center where Armani, Zegna or Prada find the perfect manufacturer for their creations. He wants to create his own brands, move from a lower-middle domestic image to an international upper-middle one. As in other sectors of the economy, Chinese manufacturing suffers from a poor image and little innovation. But the whole machine of the Chinese economy is trying to climb the steps of added value, and little Shishi's 'Milan Plan' is a significant example.
