Piece Deal

What happens when an established French fashion label meets a Beijing contemporary artist? Gan Tian looks at the result.

When French fashion label Lacoste's artistic director John Storey was in Beijing this January, he happened on two installations in the lobby of the Opposite House, the luxury boutique hotel where he was staying. They were two costumes - one a qipao, the other a Mao suit. The materials, however, were not cloth but pieces of Chinese porcelain shards. Storey's curiosity was aroused. Why porcelain shards? To find out, he went to the Red Gate Gallery, where contemporary artist Li Xiaofeng was working.

After Li told him the origins of his ideas, Storey offered him a partnership with Lacoste. "My first response was: I work in art and I don't know how to make clothes. I was about to say 'no' at that moment," says the 45-year-old artist.