Xindanwei | 新单位 A new way of working | 一种新的工作方式

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Xindanwei May Featured People: Emlyn WANG Li-Juan

Article: Cozi GE

May’s Xindanwei “People” badge goes to Emlyn, WANG Li-Juan, a young lady who just got bored from her financial management job and jumped out of the box to create an art-fashion project of her own.

It was Miss ZHUANG Kai, Emlyn’s partner who first came to visit Xindanwei. At the moment, their avant-garde fashion project C’est la Chine has already been launched and the first collection has been created. An official working venue is something critical for C’est la Chine’s following steps. They met Xindanwei. Miss ZHUANG was almost excitedly discribing Xindanwei to Emlyn, “it’s unique and charming, open and flexible, it is just the right place for beginner entrepreneurs.” Not long after that, when Emlyn came back to Shanghai, Miss ZHUANG took her to Xindanwei, and it was a coup de coeur. C’est la Chine became a co-worker at Xindanwei.

C’est la Chine is solely founded by Emlyn. Her initiative is to work out something inbetween the Art and Fashion – it is not any kind of the fast fashion, yet it stays close enough to the ordinary life. One might think about the early jobs of Japanese Designer Issey Miyaki, who creates and display his show pieces in an artwork way, and the later ready-to-wear lines are more like derivatives from the non-market-oriented artworks. Without a professional background in art or design, Emlyn invites guest artist to collaborate on every collection, with herself taking control on the whole art direction from design, production to the marketing image.

The name of the label, C’est la Chine, actually indicates Emlyn’s pursuit on the art side of its spirit – Not any simple symbolic elements, but a real beauty derives from the traditional Chinese art and culture. The first collection the team has created can be recognized either as women’s wear or accessaries. Emlyn then invited a professional modern dance performer as the shooting model. There is that Chinese spirit you can smell not only from the art pieces, but from the character who wears the piece and from the whole scene as well.

Before launching C’est la Chine, Emlyn worked as regional manager at Efunds after her graduation from MBA program at CEIBS. She was on such a broad highway that many people are just eager to reach. Emlyn followed her heart anyway. To be an entrepreneur means to give up the steady income and carry the risk of failure. “C’est la Chine, is especially a project that one can not be so sure about the result,” said, Emlyn. “I am mostly driven by my passion for art and fashion, however, I did take into concern carefully the possibility of the marketing. Of course, reactions from the market might not follow exactly what you expect, they actually never did. Particularly for me, I don’t have a case ready for me to take as successful module, I have to by myself search for a brand new way, probably a very-not-conventional way.” The future may not be clear yet, the opportunity is there already, visible enough. Emlyn senses it.

Talking about her redirection on career, Emlyn takes it as a result of her personality. “I love traveling, and probably like all the travel lovers do, I have a continuous passion for life, a curiosity for the unknown, and an open and fearless heart to explore. I love freedom and enjoy a cozy way of living. one more thing, I value spiritual achievement higher than material gain.” The project C’est la Chine is initially driven by Emlyn’s interest and her pursuit for a freer thinking and working style, but after the idea is actually taken into action, Emlyn sees the procedure a re-discovery journey about herself, a re-check into her life. And to actually execute out the project is also a challenge and re-dig to her own ability and potential.

Mostly like what Emlyn has been through, Xindanwei never stops wondering and exploring of its own way of surviving. For most of the entrepreneurs or startups, the future is not 100% sure, but what else can be more fascinating than devoting 100% of yourself to a career that is fueled by creation and innovation?

C’est la Chine will collaborate with Xindanwei very soon to display artworks from the project at Xindanwei space. The two creative projects thus get crossed. And this is what Xindanwei expects – to function as an open platform where young talents and action takers are brought together and offered a chance to communicate and interact more. We believe the future lies in the direction of communication and open source.
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新单位五月人物：汪丽娟

采写 / Cozi GE

五月份，新单位向大家介绍汪丽娟（Emlyn），一个离开金融业做起艺术时装的姑娘。

最初是汪丽娟的合伙人庄恺先来到新单位，当时汪丽娟的时装项目“始一雅制（C’est la Chine）”已经启动，第一期系列已经出炉，正需要一个办公空间以便开展后续市场工作。新单位空间的开放性、便利性、以及灵活的租赁形式都正适合创意型初创企业。庄小姐回去之后，“兴奋”地向汪丽娟讲了新单位的情况。于是没多久，等汪丽娟回到上海，她们再次来到新单位，就这一次，双方一拍即合，始一雅制搬进了新单位。

始一雅制是汪丽娟的独资项目，出发点是走一条艺术和时尚的中间道路──和快消时装有区别，但并不远离生活，也许可以叫它艺术时装（Artfashion）。和早期三宅一生的做法相似，始一雅制用艺术品的方式制作和展示设计，而成衣系列更多相当于展示系列的衍生产品。汪丽娟自己并没有艺术或者设计的专业背景，她的每期设计都邀请艺术家进行合作，由汪丽娟自己控制作品从设计到制作完成以至最后包装的艺术氛围。品牌名字“始一雅制”和法文名C’est la Chine即表达了汪丽娟心里的艺术追求──从根本上始于中国传统文化。已经制作完成的第一期作品，形式上介于时装和时装配饰之间，她邀请了专业现代舞舞者担任模特拍了造型片，你能看到，始一雅制讲究的那股中国味儿并不是简单地提取一个物化的中国元素，而是化为一种氛围和精神，不光从设计物件本身，而且从穿着了物件的人物身上，从整个画面空间中透露了出来。

在这之前，汪丽娟刚从中欧管理学院毕业，随后加入了易方达基金管理公司担任区域经理。这原本是一条很多人羡慕的高薪金融行业的道路，然而汪丽娟确实义无反顾地离开了，并开始了现在这个前途未卜的时装项目。“不过，”汪丽娟说道，“虽然我开始这个项目的最大动机确实是对艺术和时尚的热情，但我仍然仔细考虑过市场可行性。”当然，项目实际启动了之后，始一雅制遇上了一些事先没有预料到的市场反应和反馈。“实际上每个项目都会遇上这种问题。因为没有现成的案例可以参考，我必须在观察实际市场反应的基础上探索全新的、可能远不是传统模式的市场方案。”汪丽娟眼中的市场道路可能还不清晰，但她敏锐地感觉到：时机已经成熟了。

关于自己的转行，汪丽娟坦言这和自己的性格有关。“我一直是一个热爱旅行的人，真正热爱旅行的人可能性格上会有一些共同点：对生活拥有持续的热情，乐于探索未知而不畏前路，热爱自由同时可能有一些懒散，此外他们大多看重精神高于物质。“从“始一雅制”开始的这个创业历程由兴趣和对自由的追求促成，但渐渐地，汪丽娟发现这样的过程实际上促成了她对自己的重新发现，和对生活内容的重新审视。而这样一个全新项目的探索，也是对自己执行力的挑战，和对自己能力和潜力的再发掘。

和汪丽娟一样，新单位的运营方式实际上也仍在探索中，我们和所有的初创企业一样，拥有的是一个并不那么确定的将来。可是还有什么比创新、开拓更给力更令人着迷呢？

接下来，汪丽娟将和新单位合作，在新单位空间展示“始一雅制”出品的艺术时尚作品。两个创新创业项目就这样交会在一起。新单位就是这样一个开放的平台：它提供给年轻的创业者和创意者更多交流和互动的机会，共同探索和探讨未来的道路。
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