Hu Bing Is Building a Fashion Bridge Between Shanghai, London and the Future

For London Fashion Week, Hu Bing presents URBAN GRACE: Leather & Light, a journey through 1930, 2030 and 3030 that brings Chinese craftsmanship, Haining leather and future-facing design into dialogue with London. For Hu Bing, London Fashion Week is no longer simply a place to be seen. After 38 years in the fashion industry and 12 years working with London Fashion Week, his role has evolved from international ambassador and fashion figure to something broader: a bridge between designers, craftsmen, manufacturers and creative communities across Asia and the West. His latest project, HUBING SELECTS, reflects that shift. Founded in 2024, the platform brings Asian designers and creative talent onto international stages, with URBAN GRACE: Leather & Light marking its third season. Presented through three imagined moments in time—1930, 2030 and 3030—the collection explores leather as ritual, armour and ultimately a futuristic second skin. Developed through Haining’s renowned leather ecosystem in Zhejiang, it also introduces Hu Bing’s idea of

“Finishing in China”: an attempt to recognise the technical knowledge, craftsmanship and creative decisions that transform a material into a finished fashion object.

Following the show, RED-EYE sat down with Hu Bing to discuss his relationship with London, the creative potential of Chinese craftsmanship, technology and AI, and his vision for a more connected future in fashion.

You have such a long relationship with London Fashion Week. What does showing this particular collection in London mean to you personally?

In 2015, I was invited to become an ambassador for London Fashion Week. At that time, I was already working with brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior because I was a celebrity in China. In the first few years, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I would take pictures, change clothes, go to shows and sometimes walk with the brands. But after about five years, I felt that simply taking photographs or walking on the runway wasn’t enough. I needed to do more. I’ve been in the fashion industry for 38 years, since 1988. I felt that I needed to do something with all that experience. That’s why, from 2024, I started HUBING SELECTS in Asia. I wanted to bring something new to London. I told Laura that I wanted to bring men’s fashion back to London. After the first show, we developed it further. We created a space where fashion, music, art and technology could come together almost like a concert.Now London feels like home to me. I’ve been working here for 12 years. I don’t feel there is such a big distance anymore.

What did you discover through working directly with the craftsmen and manufacturers in Haining?

Everybody already knows “Made in China” , but not many people know about “Finishing in China.”

A lot of leather comes from Haining, but the world doesn’t necessarily know that. People know the big luxury brands, but they don’t always know where so much of the craftsmanship behind leather actually happens.

Haining has many small companies and manufacturers. I brought all the details together, and they really supported me and the designer. They provided so much leather and so much knowledge.

For me, this isn’t only about Haining. Across Asia there are many different cities with incredible leather expertise and finishing capabilities.

Maybe one day we can bring all of this together—something like “Finishing in China” or “Finishing in Asia.” In the same way that people understand the idea of Italian finishing, I want people to understand the expertise that exists here too.

You’re bringing together Shanghai and London, but also the past and the future. What do you think these two cities can learn from one another creatively?

I think Asia still needs to learn from Europe. Europe has been doing very well in fashion for the past 30 years, and our fashion industry started much later. We need to listen, to look and to understand how much the world is changing. But I also think that the future will become more Oriental. There is a cultural gap between East and West, but fashion is always like a family. We should learn from each other. I’ve worked with London for 12 years already, so for me London feels like home.

HUBING SELECTS was created to bring Asian designers and creative talent onto international stages. After three seasons, what have you learned about what Chinese designers need from the global fashion system—and what the global system can learn from Asia?

I don’t want to support only China. I want to support Asia. That’s why I want to bring young fashion people from across Asia to London. If the finishing is famous in one country—whether China, Japan, Korea, Italy or London—we can bring all of that knowledge together.I think that’s fantastic. For me, HUBING SELECTS is about creating that connection. It’s not only about one country. It’s about bringing different creative communities together.

What qualities are you looking for when you decide which young

designers or creative talents to support?

For me, it’s about young people who have something to say and who are willing to move forward. Fashion has to move. Every ten years the world is different, and we have to follow that change. Technology is making fashion move faster, but we shouldn’t think only about technology. We still need lifestyle, culture, art and people.

If 1930 represents memory and 3030 represents imagination, where do you think Chinese fashion is actually standing today?

I think 1930 represents something beautiful from both London and Shanghai. We should keep that beauty. Then we have 2030—now and the future. We can take the beautiful things from the past and bring them forward.

The question is: what do we do with the future? That’s why I want to bring London and Shanghai into 2030, but maybe in a different way.

And I wish that everybody could love each other—men and women, everybody. No more fighting. No more of that. That’s why the last part of the collection is white.

What do you think about the relationship between fashion, technology and AI?

Fashion is about time. We need to move. The world changes every ten years. Social media is very strong, digital is very strong, and technology is becoming stronger and stronger. But I don’t think technology should take everything over. I trust people to make beauty. That’s why magazines are still very important. We need beauty. Technology comes from beauty, fashion comes from beauty and art comes from beauty. We need to find what beauty is.

People’s beauty is really important.Technology and AI are changing the way fashion is created. Where do you see their potential?

Technology and AI can make fashion more interesting, but fashion is not only AI. There are so many other things. We need lifestyle, we need culture, we need everything. The technology can also help us rethink materials. Maybe leather becomes something else. Maybe fabrics change completely. The important thing is that we keep moving.

The collection also incorporates new techniques such as 3D printing. How do you see these technologies working alongside traditional craftsmanship?

For me, it comes back to finishing. If finishing is really strong in one country—whether China, Japan, Seoul, Italy, London or somewhere else—and we can bring all those skills together, I think the result can be fantastic. That’s why I want to support Asia. Not only China.

Finally, if we could travel to 3030 and you could see what fashion had become, what is the one thing you hope would still remain?

Beauty. I hope we keep the beautiful things from the past, but bring them into the future in a new way. And I hope people love each other. Fashion can change. Technology can change. Materials can change. But beauty and people will always be important.

RED•EYE WORLD