Now in its 13th year, China Fashion Week is establishing itself as an international contender.

Organizers and designers at the event hope to turn the ancient city into a new fashion capital.

Fashion trends in China are running counter to the pressures of the recent global financial crisis and various natural disasters suffered in recent years. But one of China's leading men's brands, Cabbeen, is sailing on the winds of optimism.

The Cabbeen collection will be followed by another 8 menswear releases for 2011 Spring/Summer; it's the largest number of menswear collections in the 13-year history of China Fashion Week. The number is a reflection of an over 20-percent increase on new menswear labels in China. And the demand is diversified.

The man behind Cabbeen, Yang Ziming, has been seeing and experiencing these changes over years. He gave his first show at China Fashion Week eight years ago, and in 2007 was the first Chinese mainland designer to show at New York Fashion Week.

Yang Ziming, Designer of Cabbeen, said, "New York Fashion Week targets buyers and sellers, while the content of China Fashion Week covers a more diverse group. As the top fashion week in China, the event has attracted great attention from insiders, outsiders, and the press. I've seen China Fashion Week make progress step by step in the past few years. It is more professional, for instance, and the work of the organizers and staff are delegated in detail."

China Fashion Week is establishing itself fully aware of the country's huge market potential and demand for distinctive creations in fashion design.

The rich and diverse Chinese culture is an always inspiration for the country's fashion designers. The key is how?

A model presents a creation of BOTAO during China Fashion Week in Beijing, capital of
China, on Oct. 25, 2010. A total of 60 creations, drawing inspiration from Chinese ink
and wash paintings, were shown Monday night.

Designer Zhang Zhifeng, who is behind the domestic brand NE Tiger, is testing where east meets west. Strong symbolic Chinese elements are revived on western evening gowns. While Zhang's counterpart Baotao got inspiration for his collection from the water-and-ink style painting. All efforts are encouraged on the stage of China Fashion Week.

Yang Jian, Secretary-General of China Fashion Week, said, "All the collections staged here are a debut show. They are very original. We are trying to build the best platform for domestic designers to let their imagination run wild. And we're closer to it. In the past 13 years, China Fashion Week has provided a stage for nearly 600 collections of over 240 designers and 290 brands."

And, for the first time, China Fashion Week will see the demonstration of its first brand which was born and developed through use of the internet. The power of the virtual world is a big concern of fashion experts as they reach out to fashion fans.

Both are ambitious to lend a hand from high technology, looking for new possibilities for the fashion world.