Fifteen leading Chinese fashion designers join ranks with international brands to design the Mickey Mouse-inspired fashion collection "Mickey The True Original" on March 28, the opening day of Shanghai Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2018.[photo provided to China Daily]

Fusing culture, business

In the context of consumption, fashion is considered the biggest driver of young consumers. Leveraging its long and strong presence in the fashion world, Disney has collaborated with renowned fashion brands globally, including Los Angeles brand reg&bone, British brand Preen Line, Chinese sports brand Anta, and mass fashion brand Peacebird.

Besides Mickey Mouse, the company owns other brands or franchises like Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel that can be monetized via merchandizing.

"We will marry Disney heritage to the local brands and local culture to create something that is extraordinary. The whole idea is to capture the different subcultures around China and help spread them around to enrich them," he said.

Disney's collaboration with local designers aims to understand the tastes of consumers in various parts of the country. "I think localization is one of the key things we do," Au-Yeung said. "(We try) to understand local culture and create something that makes sense for local consumers."

Chloe Hou, public relations manager of Guangzhou-based Ban Xiaoxue, said the brand has combined the most classic Chinese patterns with Mickey Mouse, infusing the blend with 3D cuts to create a strong contrast. "We want to adopt Chinese traditional elements such as Chinese embroidery with modern cuts," said Hou.

She said the event is a great occasion for independent designers to experience the fashion week and evolve in the profession. "Our brand has received much support from events like this fashion show since we set up our venture in 2014," said Hou.