Fashion brand ICICLE blends Chinese philosophy with French savoir faire

On March 5, during the Paris Fashion Week, Shanghai-based Chinese fashion brand ICICLE presented its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris through a fashion show featuring atelier pieces and an exhibition titled An Exploration of the Five Colors — An ICICLE Spectrum.

When East meets West

Minimalist yet elegant and distinctive high-end pieces with clean cuts, worn by models of diverse origins, conveyed a perfect combination of Chinese philosophy and French savoir faire in this prestigious Parisian institution.

"Chinese aesthetic thinking shapes how I approach design: the value of emptiness, the intelligence of restraint, the quiet dignity of things that don't demand attention. These ideas — comfort, proportion, a sense of propriety — form the underlying architecture. They guide where a seam falls and what a garment does not say," said Bénédicte Laloux, creative director of ICICLE.

Meanwhile, being French-born and a Parisian for the past 25 years, Laloux loves to reinterpret and play with the notions of French chic and femininity. This season, that dialogue deepens with the theme "The Folds of Nature".

"Garments become gesture: a fold formed by fabric's own logic. Design that does not dominate, but accompanies. East meets West — French elegance meets reverence for what already exists and what nature has bestowed upon us," Laloux added.

Harmony between humanity and nature

Founded in Shanghai in 1997 by Ye Shouzeng and Tao Xiaoma, ICICLE's development in China has always been rooted in long-standing Chinese cultural and philosophical traditions.

"On the international market, this is also part of what makes ICICLE unique. We aim to use fashion to interpret China's traditional culture and philosophy, providing a 'contemporary' translation that allows these traditions to be incorporated into everyday life today," Ye said.

The brand's Chinese name, Zhihe, meaning crop seedlings, and its English name, ICICLE, meaning a pointed piece of ice formed by dripping water, perfectly convey the brand philosophy: Made on Earth.

"This idea resonates strongly today, as customers become increasingly aware of environmental and humanitarian responsibility and seek more meaningful ways of consuming," said Victoria Marenzi, global communications director of ICICLE.

In this spirit, ICICLE uses noble natural fibers, such as cashmere, linen, wool, silk, and cotton, to create garments designed for everyday life and work, with an emphasis on elegance, comfort, simplicity and functionality.

The on-site exhibition focused on the fundamental colors of Chinese tradition — white, blue-green, black, red and yellow — which derive from the system of the Five Elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth). "For us, color is not decoration — it is a way of understanding the world," Marenzi said.

The exhibition also showcased craft collaborations between ICICLE and traditional Chinese artisans, including the "thousand-layer sole" paired with Canton gauze, as well as cloth of Dong ethnic group, a textile heritage preserved by the Dong women living in Southwest China's Guizhou province. Regarding the latter, Laloux explained: "Women apply egg white to the surface and hammer it by hand until it develops a natural sheen. No chemicals. No industrial coating. Just time and touch. That cloth now appears in a trench coat — a contemporary form carrying an ancient luminosity."

Paris an ideal starting point

Currently, ICICLE operates 235 stores worldwide, including 230 in nearly 110 cities across China, and five abroad — four in Paris and one in Dublin, Ireland.

ICICLE began building its bridge to the West more than a decade ago. In 2013, the ICICLE Paris Design Center was established, aiming to leverage the city as a window to Europe's experienced fashion talent, as well as to gain comprehensive expertise in areas such as store design and communications. In 2018, the company acquired the French fashion brand Carven, founded in 1945.

In 2019, ICICLE opened its global flagship store at 35 Avenue George V in Paris. "Paris is the fashion capital of the world and one of the cities where it is easiest to access design talent. Paris is also an ideal starting point for our brand's international expansion," Ye said. In 2021, the ICCF Group — ICICLE Carven China France Group — was officially established and headquartered in Paris.

"We approach international development with Chinese culture and pride, while also adapting to local markets. For example, in France, ICICLE operates in a French way — we aim for an integrative approach and never want to be seen as an outsider," Ye said. Currently, ICICLE and Carven together employ 150 people in France, with Laloux as the first employee ICICLE hired in Paris.

ICICLE leverages French craftsmanship, collaborative design between China and France and high-quality fabrics from Italy, Japan, and China, as well as the scale and competitive advantages of Chinese manufacturing, to create complementary and mutually beneficial strengths for the brand in both domestic and international markets.

"I believe our investment in France has been a very successful two-way endeavor," Ye said.

For Ye, the domestic and overseas markets are of equal strategic importance. ICICLE plans to open more overseas stores in the coming years, rather than taking the more conventional paths, which often start with Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern markets and expand into countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. In particular, ICICLE is positioned in the premium fashion segment.

"We chose to enter mature markets directly, where quality and design are held to strict standards," Ye said. Europe is therefore ICICLE's primary overseas market. Beyond Paris, the brand is also targeting London, Milan and other key European cities.

As ICICLE expands across continents, it brings more than fashion, offering a lifestyle of understated elegance, rooted in Chinese cultural and philosophical traditions, while embracing French savoir faire and the modern world.