Top 100 beauties in the world!
Gallery: Who is the most beautiful one?
If you like autumn, put your hands in the air!
Fan Bingbing's "Queen style" in new play
Lingerie show at 2014 Miss China
J-10 fighters show aerobatic stunts in smog-free sky
Charming contestants of Shanghai Int’l Model Contest
Most amazing chi-pao beauties
7 deadly animal attacks
Russia to launch 70 Proton rockets by 2020: officialBEIJING, Nov. 14 -- The high-collared Chinese tunics tailor-made to be worn by the world's most prominent leaders in Beijing last week during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum has sparked a new online fashion trend.
Conceptualized by fashion designers specifically for the meeting, the traditional Chinese garment utilized dark-blue damask with watermarks, a technique linked to textile methods from the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Just days after leaders were photographed wearing the garment, online retailers began offering copycat versions appropriately titled "APEC leader suit".
The knock-offs are being sold for around 200 yuan (33 U.S. dollars) to more than 1,000 yuan on Taobao.com.
Owner of online store Fuzhuangdashijie8866 said the suit is selling so well rush to delivery will still take 20 days to arrive after a buyer places the order.
The store, however, has changed the name "APEC leader suit," which it only used for two days to promote the design. They said the portal's management staff advised retailers to change the name for fear of getting entangled in patent infringement disputes.
Although the specially-designed suits have no trademark, the texture is exclusively made for the suits donned by the APEC leaders and patented, said Kou Yongqi, manager of High-Fashion Silk (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd..
The company is one of the two authorized clothing suppliers for the genuine "APEC leader suit". It produced 5,000 meters long silk and damask fabric rolls for producing the official suits.
"The damask texture has not been marketed. It was only exclusively used for the APEC meeting custom-made clothes," said Kou.
He said, however, he did not mind the knock-offs sold online, which only mimic the outer design.
Song Huizhou, one of the 12 selected fashion designers for the leaders's suits, does not mind the widespread clones either.
"Fashion design is a collected wisdom. It is not like a trademark product," she said.
Zhang Zhifeng, brand founder and art director of NE Tiger, the company authorized to make the female leaders' long embroidered buttoned jackets for the APEC gathering, called the suit "New Chinese Clothing" style, blending traditional Chinese clothing culture with new art and production technology.
"Knock-offs cannot be a real challenge to good fashion design. In the fashion world, it is common to see something getting imitated instantly," he said.
Zhang told Xinhua he believes people's love of the "New Chinese Clothing" fashion is a sign of national self-confidence and an acknowledgement of the country's own fashion products.
A total of 71 firms, 259 designers and 18 higher-learning institutes put forth bids to make the 2014 APEC leaders' suits, which started from December 2013. The final draft design was decided in September.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the APEC, which has been a top-level and most representative cooperation mechanism that covers a wide range of areas in the Asia-Pacific Leaders and representatives of the 21 APEC economies. Leaders and representatives from the 21-member APEC economies attended this year's meeting.
Incorporating the host country's fashion into the meeting began when US President Bill Clinton handed out leather bomber jackets in Seattle during 1993's forum. Leaders also donned blue-and-gold South Korean silk overcoats called durumagi in 2005, followed the next year by flowing silk ao dai tunics in Hanoi.
Standard faces for each countries
Photos: Xi Jinping in Fujian
China-made military transport aircraft gets ready
World Pole Dance Championship in China
Shocking! Photos of Chinese fighters revealed
59-year-old Liu Xiaoqing still looks stunning
In pics: PLA stages live-fire drill in NE China
Post-85s female pilots and their mission
Netizens fall in love with champion swimmer Ning Zetao
Top 10 most dangerous jobs in the world
Top 10 fifth generation jet fighters in the world
Top 10 Chinese goddesses
Top 20 hottest women in the world in 2014
Top 10 pure beauties in showbiz
Top 10 world's highest-paid models 2014
The most gorgeous Chinese women
Top 10 most handsome faces in AsiaDay|Week|Month