Recruiting in China

Based on the 2015 spring/summer collection, Prada's new store designs by some of the most acclaimed costume designers in the film industry, were shown for the first time in Beijing last month.

Top costume designers from Hollywood have re-designed the fashion label's flagship stores around the world. Sun Yuanqing looks at their recent changes in Beijing.

Fashion and film have always been closely linked. In Prada's latest project, Iconoclasts, they come even closer.

In 2009, the Iconoclasts, which literally means creating a classic by breaking the norm, recruited renowned fashion editors such as Carine Roitfeld, Katie Grand, Alex White and Olivier Rizzo to remodel Prada stores in Paris, Milan, London and New York.

This year, Prada invited some of the most acclaimed costume designers in the film industry to recreate its flagship stores, based on the 2015 spring/summer collection. First staged in New York, London and Paris during fashion weeks, the new store designs were shown simultaneously for the first time in Beijing last month.

Among the designers is Milena Canonero, the legendary Italian designer, who recently won an Oscar for her work on The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was her ninth nomination and fourth win at the Oscars. Her portfolio includes classic films such as A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and Out of Africa.

Canonero re-created her design in Prada's Paris store in Beijing's In88 branch. She drew on the feng shui philosophy, reinventing the space with elements such as water, fire, air, earth and most importantly, human love. Mannequins wore Prada clothes, striking unconventional poses expressing love and loss of love.

The feng shui philosophy has harmony with nature at its core, which compliments the rich and diverse style of Prada's new collection, Canonero says.

"It is very exciting to have this opportunity to display my project in China. I have a great love for this country, its history and traditions. I am interested in seeing how people will react to our Iconoclasts," she adds.

Arianne Phillips, stylist on Kingsman: The Secret Service, was responsible for the re-design of the Shin Kong Place store.

Phillips is a two-time Oscar nominee for Walk the Line and W.E.. She was also nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards for A Single Man. She is also Madonna's stylist.

Phillips turned the store into a "cinematic dreamscape that tells stories and creates characters". Natural elements like purple sand, rocks and trees, as well as moss and orchids, adorn the store windows.

"Nature to me is real beauty," she says adding that the latest collection is as close to beauty as nature.

Now, mannequins in the store wear coats covered in patchwork and tribal designs, inspired by Prada's new collection.

Phillips recently directed her first film, a five-minute short for Prada called Passage. The movie, shot in the desert in California, depicts a girl's conceptual journey from one place to another.

The movie aims to give another view of the collection, she says.

Michael Wilkinson, who designed for the movie American Hustle, and his partner Tim Martin brought their work from Prada's Broadway store in New York to its store in China World Mall. They transformed the venue into a party from the 1970s, a great period of self-expression. The store is envisioned as a place where "uptown meets downtown and celebrity meets street style".

Mannequins are dressed in brocade from the Prada spring/summer 2015 collection mixed with archive pieces. The dresses are decorated with mirrored tiles, sequins and stones, as well as headpieces inspired by Peking Opera.

Miuccia Prada, designer and CEO of the fashion house, remains the biggest inspiration for the designers.

"She always surprises me. She doesn't follow trend and we want to honor that spirit," says Wilkinson.