A Blonde in Beijing

Moya Li, Morgan Hutchinson, & Brett Hutchinson. Outfit: Purple Alice and Oliva dress with leather side panels on the skirt paired with Marc Jacobs belt. Neon yellow gladiators purchased at Jiayi Market in Beijing.

I believe fashion is worth fighting for in the case of protecting designers and their creations against counterfeit goods; however, I do NOT believe in physically fighting over it.  Last night I was witness to a knock down drag out between a Chinese man and woman over a gift bag at a fashion show.  This is how it went down…

Moya Li, Zhala, & Morgan Hutchinson at Bread & Butter Spring 2012 Ready-to-Wear Show

The night started so lovely.  Beijing is finally granting us some nice weather.  It was cool, there was a breeze, and you could almost see a star.  We were in the middle of Chiananmen 23, a beautiful outdoor space in front of Maison Boulud, Daniel Boulud’s Beijing restaurant, with dozens of waiters with trays full of Champagne.  You really could not ask for a more pleasant evening.  And then, there was the show, which was highly entertaining.  The dramatic set-up for the runway made for a great presentation.  High pitched tents surrounded the space to give it a carnival feel and magicians started the pre-show with a grand finale trick of making 3 models magically appear from a box that was previously “empty”.  This set the fashion show in motion and dozens of models began to strut their stuff down the catwalk.

Here are a few of the looks… (honestly – the clothes were not as impressive as the production itself – but the hair was super big – therefore super fantastic!)

During the very last look of the collection…the clouds began to roll in and big raindrops started to fall from the sky.  There was a mad dash to the covered spaces or to the exit (the show was over after all).  Another spot of action was the gift bag table.  After being informed that there was an umbrella in the bag, I scurried over to pick a couple up for Brett and me.  It was very chaotic, so I suggested to Brett that he stand toward the front gate so we wouldn’t lose each other.  I charged through the sea of people to the location of the bags (it was raining quite significantly at this point).  As I bent to grab one – I was pushed…hard.  I looked up to find a young Chinese guy punching a girl (mid-twenties) in the face.  Seriously – punching.  My natural instinct was to step in.  I mean…how could I possibly stand by and let this girl get the crap beaten out of her over a what…compact umbrella covered with the Bread & Butter logo?  The scenario quickly changed, and I found myself holding her back.  She was not going out without a fight.  At this point, the guy realized that it was two against one, so in order to even his playing field (I guess) he pushed me with all the strength of his skinny little arms (which was more than I was prepared for) and I went flying to the ground.  (My 5-inch heels didn’t help the cause).  This was my cue to excuse myself from the situation.  So I did just that.  I picked myself up off the ground and ran to find Brett (no gift bag in hand).

I really underestimated the impact the situation would have on Brett.  I was startled of course immediately after the incident– but when I saw the rage take over his face – like a big Papa Bear – I knew that we had to get out of there.  He peppered me for the identity of the “girl-beater”.  What am I am fool?  I would never have told him.  I could see the future disaster about to happen just by looking into his eyes.  Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed the fact that my husband wanted to kick the “hiney” of anyone who would hurt me…but nothing good would have come from Brett taking on a scrawny Chinese dude.

Luckily we were able to hop in our car and head to another party for the Italian label, Ermenegildo Zegna at Beijing’s Today Art Museum.  The food spread alone took his mind off of the “fashion fight”.  A boy and his belly….

1/10 of the food spread at Zegna party. Very clear that it is a men's fashion line.

Brett and Morgan Hutchinson

I will say this….the story made Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.  I was mentioned as the “other woman trying to break up the fight”.  Of all the reasons to be on Weibo, I could have never predicted this one!

One more side story of the night.  Immediately before the show started, Brett went to the restroom.  By the time he returned – everyone had taken their seats.  We were in the center of the second row – so it was very difficult to get to.  His strategy was to climb over the guests in the front row.  As he divided two Chinese young ladies to straddle the bench in order to get to his seat, our friend Moya began to giggle.  She then informed us that Brett had basically “shoved” (very gently of course) China’s most popular movie star (at this time) out of the way.  Love it.  At the end of the show, I asked to take my picture with her so I could add it to the blog. Can you see in her face how delighted she was by my request ?

Tags: Celebrities, china, fashion, Fights, Parties