CRI听力:Young Designers Shine at Beijing Fashion Week

Spotlights swivel on the ceiling as Chinese models strut their stuff on an illuminated catwalk in Beijing.

They wear glitzy jackets, flowing dresses and very high heels - all with a Chinese flavour.

This is the final of a competition designed to showcase some of the best young talent in China's emerging fashion industry.

Four designers were showing collections at this event, chosen after over 20,000 votes online.

It all ended with an award handed to the winning designer, 24 year old Gao Yuan.

"Winning this competition is good for me because I want to go abroad to improve my knowledge of fashion and reach an international standard. This experience has given me more confidence in my career. "

Xiao Wei was one of the three runners up. She says preparing for show was difficult.

"Time was so limited. They asked me to design two sets of clothes in August, so we were really rushing against time in September and October. it was a challenge to find all the materials to use."

However impressive the collections were at this event, the fact remains there are still few world famous fashion designers or brands from China. Why is this? Gao Yuan again:

"The major difference between Chinese and western fashion design lies in attitude. The fashion industry in Europe and the US has several hundred years of history. But during that time the Chinese understanding of fashion has remained in its infancy. But now many Chinese designers are going abroad to study in order to improve this situation, so I think while Chinese fashion is still in it's infancy, it has a bright future."

While much of the world's clothes are made in China, few are designed here. The young designers exhibiting at shows like this are on the forefront of trying to change this trend.

For CRI, I'm Dominic Swire.