The devil doesn't wear thermals

Chinese Bazaar's editor-in-chief's derision of long johns made her a public figure. But there's more underneath Su Mang's storied rise in the country's fashion industry

Making thermal underwear a hot topic made Su Mang a household name in China.

Chinese Bazaar's editor-in-chief became a controversial figure shortly after declaring long johns a fashion no-no on a talk show in 2007.

"To wear or not to wear" became not only a point of debate but also a source of social media jokes.

Yet before becoming known to the general public, the 43-year-old had for a decade been known in the fashion industry as China's Anna Wintour, or the Chinese Devil Wears Prada.

Yet Su and Wintour's backgrounds are hardly alike.

Wintour was born into a family of journalists and surrounded by a developed fashion industry from a young age.

Su was born into a family of musicians in East China's Shandong province's capital, Jinan. And fashion magazines were a new concept when she entered the sector in the 1990s.

While the London style icon adopted her signature bob hairstyle at age 14, Su began to play guzheng (a Chinese zither) in her school ensemble at that age.

She started studying the instrument at age 5, won a national competition at 9 and trained for four years at Beijing's China Conservatory of Music before joining the Performing Arts Ensemble of the Armed Police.

It was a dream job sought by many, but not Su.

She had a different dream.

"If I had a special interest as a girl, it was writing, although I played (music) from age 5," she recalls.

"I was grateful guzheng brought me to the capital. But I was pretty sure it wasn't what I wanted to do with my life."

So she quit the ensemble and searched for a writing gig.

Her hunt brought her to a small courtyard in downtown Beijing's Xidan area that housed the fledgling Trends magazine.

"I didn't really know what the magazine was about," she recalls.

"But it was a magazine. That meant I'd get the chance to write. So I applied."

Su was so nervous that she fell off her chair during her interview with the magazine's founder and editor-in-chief Wu Hong.

She immediately hopped up with a casual laugh.

"Mr Wu also laughed and didn't notice my anxiety," she says.

"Instead, he praised my quick adaptation to a sudden situation. He asked what I could do. I said I wanted to write but would do about anything if it meant I could join the magazine."

Su indeed did everything since the magazine had a staff of seven. She cooked, cleaned and sent letters to readers. Her job was more like an assistant's than a journalist's.

She recalls rushing with a bowl of water to put out a fire at a neighboring courtyard.

"When the firemen arrived, I caught my breath and realized my skirt's hemline was singed and my watch was broken. But I was too excited to feel fear. I think that's what we call 'youth'. My passion for work was like the fire in my heart."

Su loved the courtyard where her dream began so much that she ordered a replica built when the magazine moved into a decent office building in the central business district after the publication snowballed to become a big fashion group.

Only a few Western fashion houses had entered China by the mid-'90s.

Su grabbed opportunities to see catwalk shows open only to small circles of professionals and interviewed designers. She did anything she could to find foreign fashion magazines to learn from their writing.

She rode her bike to meet counterparts from Marie Claire, Vogue and Cosmopolitan to discuss cooperation opportunities.

Her passion and talent impressed the magazine's advertising head, who persuaded Wu to let her join the ads team in 1997.

She was reluctant. But she soon became the best salesperson.

Su became editor-in-chief when the magazine partnered with Bazaar in 2001.

She has grown up with the country's fashion industry.

Her experience in many positions at the magazine helped her hone an acclaimed eye for trends and an ability to discover and support such young domestic designers as Guo Pei, Luo Zheng and Wang Yutao.

While the Chinese Devil Wears Prada defines her public persona, she's an angel to most colleagues.

"She's demanding in her pursuit of perfection but is reasonable," Bazaar's lifestyle director Bao Fang says.

"She's immaculately dressed whether it's 40 C or 20 C. She walks faster in high heels than I can in flat shoes. I have to run to catch up. And she speaks so quickly that I have to immediately write down what she says to keep up with the main points. But she's patient if you don't get it. She doesn't mind repeating herself until you do."

Bazaar's culture director Zhu Jie says Su shows a sensitive side.

"I saw her sob when her favorite staff member quit. Su did everything she could to support another colleague who left to start her own business."

The public sees Su in fashion shows' front rows, at glamourous parties and in media. They don't see her eating fast food with assistants in the office, working into the night or flying to three cities in one day on business.

She relishes her home life with her French husband, who's a teacher, and their 15-year-old daughter.

"I make breakfast and drive her to primary school every morning," she says.

"I pretend to forget work every time I come home. She's grown up now and has her own friends. I'm still her mother. But now I'm also her special friend."

chenjie@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 02/13/2015 page28)