Fashion designer Ana Frau has lived in Shanghai for 5 years. During the first four, she worked as a designer pumping her creativity into the pockets of a big German brand, all the while ignoring her inner yearnings and friends’ encouragement to forge her own design path. Eventually she listened and this past year she launched her line (ANA FRAU) of t-shirts, accessories and RTW in China which has since expanded into Singapore.
When I visited her studio at 696 WeiHai lu last weekend, it became clear Ana is thrilled her design vision is no longer tethered. As if she’s making up for those lost 4 years of blander mass market retail, her sportswear is bursting with energy, bright color and quirky graphics. Not afraid to be out-there, she is finally designing for herself. And it just so turns out her offbeat style perfectly suits Asian tastes, which is great for business.
Her clothes’ mashup of colors and frenetic energy lend proof that bustling Shanghai is a huge inspiration (I don’t think it’s possible to block out this city from your mind, no matter how hard you try), but she also takes more fantastical design cues from comics, dolls and superheroes. Ana wants her designs to rescue those who are “really afraid to wear color and have attention drawn to them.” How a superhero uses an invisibility cape, wings, steel claws, spontaneous combustion or a helicopter hat, this designer’s superhuman sartorial strength is her manipulation of the rainbow. She’s not quite Rainbow Bright, but you get my point.
Her clothes are cheerful and intend to make you feel that way. Not to mention, they are extremely comfortable. “I mostly choose fabrics like jersey because I design my clothes to be practical for life in Shanghai—running around the city, carrying your bags everywhere, and taking the bus and subway.” Just because your spandex leggings are icy blue doesn’t make them less comfortable than subdued black spandex, right Ana?
When asked to describe what Shanghai style is, Ana’s response made me understand how this city is a fantastic backdrop for her bold taste, “Local people wear whatever they want. Anything goes here. Outfits don’t need to make sense with different prints and colors. Even pajamas in the day.” Ana also appreciates the more…eh hem… “put-together” end of the style spectrum, “I admire how Chinese women dress so femininely here. They wear delicate dresses, ruffles, flowers and carry parasols.” While jotting that down, I looked down at my brogues, jean cut-offs and button-down men’s shirt. “Western girls just don’t dress so femininely anymore.”
Visit Ana Frau’s website www.frau-ana.com for more details about where to buy her pieces. Or visit her studio, 696 Wei Hai Lu. Building 4, room 411.
