Bono Zhang: From rocking the stage to rocking the runway

“Don’t make me sound sweet in the article. I’m a bad boy,” says Bono Zhang. This is Zhang’s only request during our interview at his new boutique -- offering clothes with the hallmark edge of its rocker-designer -- on Xingguo Lu. The store, WhereWhatWho, is Zhang's brainchild, which he has been working on since September 2009 together with his business partner Danni Tang, who is known by locals from her appearance on reality TV show My Style, Project Runway’s Shanghai clone.

The shift from fronting his band Banana Monkey to running his own store was not a huge change, Zhang says. Both "rock and fashion are playful, nothing too serious," says Zhang. "And, more importantly, I like changes and challenges."

From 'rock hooligan'...

I knew the concert had hit a high point when a pair of Victoria’s Secret underpants flew up from the audiences and hit me. I didn’t know what to do, so I hung them on my microphone and kept on singing— Bono Zhang, local musician and Shanghai fashion designer

Wearing a light blue shirt, a pair of well-fitting skinny jeans and polished leather shoes, Zhang projects the aura of a seasoned fashion designer. Known for this sensational stage antics, local live music fans once considered Zhang the ultimate local "rock hooligan." Since 2002, he has been the face of Shanghai’s indie rock scene, touring China with his comrades in music in three different bands: Toffie, Marrow and Banana Monkey. The last one, Banana Monkey, has gone down in Shanghai's live music collective memory as one of the best indie rock bands the city has produced. It is also currently enjoying a (long) break from the scene. 

“Freak, I like the word freak a lot. I like the meaning and also the pronunciation. That’s how rock changed my values and attitude,” Zhang says with a knowing grin. “Rock is the little devil in my life. It prompts me to be more confident, sturdy and, sometimes, aggressive. You got to have this powerful to sing on the stage.”

Heavily influence by the British garage music in the 1960s and 1970s, Banana Monkey’s short, danceable and punchy riffs attracted a large number of rock fanatics. Zhang recalls a gig at Shanghai's LOgO in 2007: “I knew the concert had hit a high point when a pair of Victoria’s Secret underpants flew up from the audiences and hit me. I didn’t know what to do, so I hung them on my microphone and kept on singing.” 

That was also the night that Zhang was introduced to Danni Tang, his current fashion business partner. Luckily, the underpants weren’t hers. 

“Commercialization is definitely important for indie fashion brands. This is their way out,” said Danni Tang.

...to easy, playful fashion

Having the similar intense, or should we say "freaky", personalities as well as backgounds in rock, Zhang and Tang clicked immediately and began to work on the idea to start up a rock fashion brand, WhereWhatWho.

“I started as a fashion designer. I had been designing for commercial brands before picking up my rock career,” explains Zhang. “Now I just want to create easy, cool and playful clothes, just like what the Banana Monkey music was like.” 

The brand’s 2010 A/W collection “Freak Planet” was lauded at its debut on this spring’s Shanghai Fashion Week. Zhang isn't getting ahead of himself though. “We are definitely making noises in the commercial world, but I don’t want the brand to play hard-to-get and die quickly.” 

Tang is the sales and marketing brain behind WhereWhatWho's operation. As a local TV personality, she is using this advantage to make the brand more visible.

“Commercialization is definitely important for indie fashion brands. This is their way out,” she says, referring to the plight of many smaller Shanghai designers. “We are trying to make WhereWhatWho more visible by cooperating with celebrities and media.”

Zhang and Tang’s ambition is to create an internationally recognized, Shanghai-based brand and, hopefully, make it into London Fashion Week.

When asked about the difference between song writing and designing, Zhang pauses a moment before responding: “Music composition is more flexible, I can put in whatever I want. If I don’t like the piece, I can just chuck it. Fashion design is more serious, more real. You need to consider the materials, cost and feasibility. The bottom line is I want to make my clothes fun.”

CNNGo Shanghai editor Tracy You is a bilingual culture and lifestyle journalist based in Shanghai. She's a fan of history, British TV and Wii Guitar Hero.

Read more about Tracy You