Fashion forward: The story behind 'My Style' winner Jiang Cheng

"My Style," China's two year-old cousin of American fashion reality show "Project Runway," might not yet have the same star power of its American counterpart, but it drew huge local audiences this season as well as many young local designers to compete. With the show wrapping up in recent weeks, Shanghai fashionistas earned additional bragging rights when the winner was announced: Shanghai native Jiang Cheng. 

Confidently claiming in the first episode that “no one other than himself” would win, 26-year-old Jiang earned himself a loyal fan base, and a few weeks later the first-place spot on the show, which will allow him to extend his internationally influenced brand Bunka/Toka beyond Shanghai.

From Shanghai to Tokyo

Jiang graduated from the combined program of Donghua University and Bunka Fashion College, spending three years in Shanghai first and a year in Tokyo, exposing Jiang to a broad range of fashion experiences and trends. 

As anyone who has watched "My Style," will have noticed Jiang's solid grasp of basic design skills -- a big advantage on the show. From sketching to cutting, episode after episode he was constantly challenged yet held it together while his competition got tangled in sometimes the simplest of tasks.

Jiang Cheng’s brand “Bunka/Toka” comes down the Shanghai Fashion Week 2009 runway.

Although seemingly a natural designer, Jiang's move into fashion is relatively late in the game, only turning to fashion once in college. “When I was younger I studied painting, so when I took the gaokao (China’s nation-wide college entrance exam), my family simply wanted me to get into a good college. I figured that fashion design is Donghua University’s best major so I went for that.”

Jiang grins as he remembers the decisions that led him to where is he today. “I didn’t know I would become a fashion designer,” he says. “Gradually I realized that majoring in fashion design makes it perfectly convenient for me to meet lots and lots of models -- all in the name of in the name of studying. And, that was absolutely awesome!”

Although he initially sharpened his scissors in the classrooms at Donghua University, it wasn’t until Jiang went to Tokyo the he began developing his own style. 

“The biggest influence Tokyo had on me is how it shaped my fashion taste and fashion sensitivity,” he says. In Tokyo, Jiang spent his days in Shibuya and Shinjuku, Tokyo’s fashion districts absorbing local styles and checkout shops -- again all in the name of studying. Back in Shanghai in 2008, Jiang lunched his own brand Bunka/Toka in Shanghai creative hub Bridge 8. The brand is named after his two alma maters.

With a network of support from his professors and alumni from both schools Bunka/Toka quickly took hold in the Shanghai fashion community with the line appearing twice on the runways at the annual Shanghai Fashion Week.

Going for gold on “My Style”

“I’ve always felt that I am an ambitious designer. I have so much potential in me eager to burst out. There are certain things in life that needs to be done now. If I don’t do them now, I am unlikely to do them in my life,” explains Jiang as to why he considered joining China’s “My Style” even after all the local success of his Bunka/Toka line.

“On the one hand, 'My Style' tests one’s talents and skills, on the other hand, the show tests one’s sense of entertainment,” says Jiang explaining away some of his more brash behavior on the show that got him as many supporters as critics from the shows ever-growing audience.

After being the final designer left standing Jiang says he’s going back to focus on where his success began, his brand Bunka/Toka, and will keep working to develop the designs, focusing on details and texture. 

As a talented designer and winner of this popular TV show, Jiang now has everything he needs to begin to promote Bunka/Toka in international circles.

find cheng jiang’s designs

372-1 Xingguo Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu
兴国路372-1号, 近淮海中路
+86 21 5230 6736

169 Jinxian Lu, near Maoming Nan Lu
进贤路169号, 近茂名南路
+86 134 8228 3350

A borough-bred Manhattanite, Jessica Beaton has lived in Shanghai for five years working as a magazine editor and freelancer writer. She's now the Shanghai city editor at CNNGo.

Read more about Jessica Beaton

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

Read more about Tracy You