Local fashionistas should head on down to the Shanghai Fashion Week which kicks off tomorrow.
Five hundred models will parade down Huaihai Rd for the opening ceremony.
The first part of the event highlights domestic designers and their collections and then on October 14, international designers including Kenzo and Jean Paul Gaultier will host parades for four days. Several Chinese leading fashion designers will show their latest creations in Shanghai Mart and Tianma Country Club during the seven-day event. Mark Cheung, one of the most reputed Chinese fashion designers will present his casual label ``Mark Fair Whale.''
Cheung was first discovered by a fashion industry group at the age of 19. The group were taking part in the Guangdong Trade Fair to find Chinese clothes manufacturers to partner with and Cheung was an apprentice in a local crafts factory. His embroidery impressed them and the door to a fashion empire swung open. Other designers include Deng Zhaoping, Lin Zihan, Wang Hongying, and Zhang Yichao. Deng looks to mother nature for inspiration while Lin loves to mix the masculinity with the femininity in her designs. In addition, Mao Geping, a nationally-recognized makeup artist, will stage a show on the latest makeup trends. Mao has created many unforgettable images for more than 40 movies and 20 stage plays.
He started his professional makeup career in 1994. Upon graduating from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now the China Academy of Art) in Hangzhou, he developed his talents as a makeup artist at the Shanghai Theater Academy, and then honed his craft in the art of maquillage at TV studios. The Fashion Week also provides an opportunity to discover future stars.
The ``Top 10 Local Designers and Stylists'' will be selected from budding designers fresh out of college, exhibiting at Shanghai Mart. The Italian Trade Commission will stage a show under the theme ``Innovative Technical Textiles Made in Italy'' at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. There is also jewelry shows, photography exhibitions about the development of the local fashion industry through the century. Fashion photographers around the country will display their work throughout the week.

Mark Cheung Fashion Show
Date: September 18, 8pm
Venue: Tianma Country Club, 3958 Zhaokun Rd, Songjiang District

Other designers' shows
Date: September 19-22
Venue: 7/F, Shanghai Mart, 2299 Yan'an Rd W.

The Fashion Development Photo Exhibition and Fashion Photographers' Works Exhibition
Date: September 18-25
Venue: 3/F, Shanghai Mart, 2299 Yan'an Rd W.
Tel: 6236-2085

``Innovative Technical Textiles Made in Italy''
Date: September 22
Tel: 6248-8600