Shanghai Fashion Week kicks off on Thursday with a catwalk show of Comme Moi's collection at the event's main venue in Xintiandi.

With the theme "Met a Nature," the spring/summer 2023 edition attempts to merge the reality fashion scenes into the metaverse, a tech-driven virtual world. The runway shows will be livestreamed on its official Douyin account, and some of the city's iconic landmarks will be transformed into "pop-up studios" where the public can meet more China-grown independent fashion brands.

Trade fairs such as Ontimeshow, Mode Shanghai, Tube Showroom, Alter, NOT, DaDaShow, and many others will be held during the nine-day fashion gala to help build Asia's largest fashion trade market. Approximately 1,000 fashion brands are expected to participate in the 60,000-square-meter exhibition space.

Shanghai Fashion Week is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. As a way to strengthen the industry's resilience in the post-COVID era, the fashion week will reach out to more consumer-based communities through a variety of physical events, digital initiatives and offline activities.

At the event, the Mckinsey 2022 China Fashion Industry Whitepaper will be released, and Shine Her Light will invite outstanding women from the industry to participate in the dialogue, empowering women's roles in the fashion, arts and lifestyle industries. M Space will discuss a variety of issues, including sustainable development and green fashion.

Youngor, a national textile and apparel manufacturer, will launch the first season of Innovation 100, a designer incubation project. The new collection, "Real in New Way," features 30 young designers from eight countries and regions.

Harrods, a luxury department store in London, is making a comeback with its livestream panel discussion, "In the Frame by Harrods," which gathers young talent from the Chinese fashion industry.