China’s Vintage Lookbooker: Juliette Xiao

With an eye that conjures up a colonial Shanghainese past, Juliette Xiao’s style is purposefully constructed. It is a succinct mixture of nostalgia and thoughtful spiritedness. East and west seem to mix and coalesce in her garments, with allusions to traditional Chinese art, Qi-Paos and western influences. As Lookbook gawkers click the hype button, they’ll be pleased to know that many of the looks shown are on sale online. Xiao is co-founder of Mime Vintage, an e-tail store that has sold clothes on Ebay, Taobao and Etsy. A native Shanghaier  who currently resides in Hong Kong, I managed to spend some time with her to find out what makes her tick, the story behind her striking style and what it means to be vintage in an uber-materialistic China.

Mime Vintage has, in a short period of time, enjoyed a considerable amount of attention. Can you take us back to the very beginning, and tell us how it all started.

 From young I recall always having been a nostalgic person at heart, loving the slow pace of the past with moments of pure light-heartedness. One day when I was still attending high school, I found one of my mother’s old dresses tucked away somewhere. The dress was so out of the ordinary that I instantly felt a visceral connection towards it. Mind you at this age, I wasn’t totally sure what the term “vintage” meant. But gradually I found other great pieces from my family and started to wear them and take pictures. This was the very beginning of my fascination with vintage clothing. It was this obsession, along with my interest in e-business that has lead me to co-found the brand. 

To sum up the concept of Mime Vintage in a few words: it is succinct and quiet, commands a stage presence, and captures an eastern spirit. 

You have lived in Shanghai for a large part of your life, notably working before at Shanghai Fashion week. What pushed you to study New Media Art in Hong Kong? 

The urge to learn art, the chance to live an island life and the ability to access relatively more open resources.

You’ve obviously experienced the culture of two very large cities (Hong Kong and Shanghai). Considering the time you have spent in Hong Kong, what differences have you encountered with the fashion community between both places?

Both people from Shanghai and Hong Kong are fashionable, stylish and creative in their own ways of dressing.  That said, Hong Kong has been influenced by western culture and style longer than Shanghai, which could be one of the reasons why Hong Kong somehow feels a bit more conservative and averse to fashion experimentation.

Last year, you had an obsession with garments from traditional Chinese opera, the 1950s and 1980s neon disco. Where are you now regarding your muses and inspirations?

I’ve always been fascinated in finding the woman inside of me. Lately, this search for identity has made me travel back to Chinese traditional culture, an area which I had immersed myself in as a child. To this day, I am very much moved and humbled by the subtle beauty of stillness and implicitness in Chinese classical art. 

Regarding external sources, I’m also in love with Tilda Swinton in the movie “I Am Love”, Raf Simons’ designs for Jil Sander, the music of Dimlite and Fourtet, jewelry by a young Japanse designer named Maiko Takeda (check out her amazing take on wearable shadows), and everything about Hussein Chalayan!  So… a little bit everything all at once!

You’ve retailed your clothes online on Taobao and Ebay in the past, but have recently switched to Etsy. Can you tell us what reasons have brought you to Etsy?

Etsy has more creative grass-roots, charges less fees and offers a better web page layout. The interviews with selected sellers and “how to” sections for small business are quite inspiring as well. I think we are going to stick with Etsy for now since I haven’t stopped having fun there yet! We’ve also just restarted the shop on Taobao recently because Taobao users would love it.

You were featured in the Weekend Weekly HK as part of an article that looks at a series of vintage shops and markets in Shanghai. Where are some of the places that you go to now as a source for your vintage materials?

In Hong Kong, I like to go hunting at “Me & George” in Mong Kok and Central, visit boutiques of local designer brands in Sheung Wan, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.  The vintage tops by “Magnan & Tse” are totally adorable though there are very limited pieces in their Central shop.  “Aalis” is famous for their lovely lace pieces and “Vintage HK” has nostalgic goodies with an old Hong Kong touch!

You’ve said before that vintage clothes are full of “stories and history”. What did you mean by this? 

I believe that every piece of vintage clothing has its own spirit and chi. What I cannot get away from is the fact that I am obsessed with the unique patterns, designs and refined craftsmanship of olden times. I’m constantly curious about lives and experiences that have preceded my own. And for me to tailor and style these garments with my own hands allows me to travel back to the origin of these garments. It is through this unity that I find a sense of solace and peace. 

As I am sure you know, the presence of large conglomerate companies seem to dominate a large part of the fashion market. With your online boutique store, how do you feel that you offer your clients something that is far more special than perhaps, Zara for example?   

Honestly, sometimes I feel quite overwhelmed by our materialistically driven society. I recognize that there are millions of choices now in terms of fashion and lifestyles. But when the very act of copying-and-pasting is so common by many companies, the task of choosing itself becomes a source of frustration for consumers. We are at this stage where everything we could possibly want, we can have. The fallacy, however, is that nothing lasts. This fleeting sensation is at odds with vintage clothing, which for me possesses a lasting impression.

So in answer to your question, Mime Vintage offers not only unique vintage clothing but also an open attitude through a personal style.  You can wear one brand head to toe. Or you choose to blend different things together.  It’s entirely up to you how you decide to carry out your style – I think this is the very core idea of what we want to share with our customers.

Lastly, what can we expect from you, and from Mime Vintage in the next coming months and years? 

There will be more stocks of course, along with new designs made of vintage fabrics.  As for me, I would like to do something related to the innovation of Chinese Kun Qu (Kun Opera).

 

Image Source: Juliette Xiao

Find Mime Vintage’s Tumblr blog here and twitter here!