Multi-talented actress-director Xu Jinglei is applying her Midas touch to a personal line of jewelry. Chen Nan finds out more about this latest business venture.
Xu Jinglei shows off her love of accessories by wearing an assortment of necklaces that are long and short, dark and bright. She wears a white dress as a canvas to show them off and her hair is neatly pulled back in a bun to highlight a pair of earrings dangling down her ears. And so, Xu declares her next move - a venture into the competitive fashion industry with a jewelry collection under her Kaila brand.
The 36-year-old artiste shows no sign of bending under the challenge of her new role as jewelry designer. Already, her highly rated e-magazine, also named Kaila, is attracting countless eyeballs in trendsetter cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with its street fashion stories on young and hip fashionistas.
Xu speaks with the confidence of one who loves what she is doing and knows she is doing it well.
"I love these accessories and I want to show them off as much as possible. The necklaces, the earrings, the bracelets, I love them all," she says. "I know I sound like an over-enthusiastic salesman hawking his wares."
Xu has just flown in from Shanghai where she is filming Cherish Our Love Forever, the film version of the hit TV series of the same name that launched her to fame in 1997.
She's in Beijing to present her jewelry collection, and although it has been selling well online since April on shopping websites such as Taobao.com and Vancl.com, it is the first time she has found time to promote the label.Her films, her blog... her jewelry
Xu has been too busy working on Go Lala Go! - her fourth directorial feature which grossed more than 100 million yuan ($15 million) at the box office. Her success as a director did not give her confidence as a designer.
"Initially, I was skeptical because I wondered what I had to offer, not being a fashion expert," Xu says. That was the reason why she decided to test the market online. Now that the brand has proven its popularity, she is more confident about putting her name to the collection.
She started working with designers three years ago when her Kaila magazine was launched and the street fashion column became popular among readers.
When she made Go Lala Go! last year, she invited Sex and The City's costume designer Patricia Field to work with her on the movie.
"I was so impressed by how a tiny ring or a belt could change how a woman looked when she wore different outfits," Xu says.
But what really inspired her jewelry collection were the girls she featured in the street snapshots of her magazine over the past few years.
"When I appear on the cover of a fashion magazine wearing a Dior dress and heels and exquisite makeup, the pictures are taken in a controlled setting, with soft lights and numerous people around to make sure the total effect is perfect. But it's all contrived and impractical. Few people wear a pair of 11cm high stilettos for work.
"All the girls we featured in the magazine were natural and real. We captured them at popular shopping areas such as Sanlitun Village and Wangfujing without any warning. But they are still beautiful and trendy.
"I learned a lot from them, on how to match clothes and how to present yourself in different colors."
Kaila jewelry has a very clear target market - the women who work. Xu is still inclined to put her collection online rather than in stores.
They are priced from an affordable 10 yuan to several hundreds for larger, more elaborate pieces with the range catering for various income levels. Styles are eclectic and varied, straddling the casual to formal, chic and elegant to rock 'n' roll punk.
The collection also plays with soft and hard elements, combining hand-treated stones and colorful leather with delicate filigree work and silk.
Xu aims to build up the label into a chain, especially for the working tribe, and young customers who enjoy shopping online.
"Lots of women love shopping online. It's fun and the prices are lower," Xu says, adding that she buys everything from clothes to furniture online.
Again, Xu has lived up to her reputation as a woman of many talents. Apart from being the successful actress and director she has proven to be, she is running her own business.
She writes a personal blog where fans can vicariously share her love for cats, her exciting social life and her occasional battles with boredom.
But there is one thing she will keep doing - and that is pursuing her interests and doing what she likes.
"I love magazines so I published one. I love accessories so I started my own collection," she says. "It may not always be smooth sailing and it's always a difficult start, but just like my acting and directing - I like them all."
