HUBING SELECTS
Cultural Icon
by Fashion Editor – Za Aurangzeb
Photography – AB Poeticframe
Urban Grace: Leather & Light – A Temporal Reflection in Three Acts
On 19 September 2026, HUBING SELECTS delivered one of the most arresting and conceptually rich showcases of London Fashion Week. Curated by Hu Bing – actor, model, cultural ambassador, and founder of the international fashion platform HUBING SELECTS – URBAN GRACE: Leather & Light unfolded as a fluid, cinematic meditation on time, identity, and craftsmanship. It was a show that didn’t simply present garments; it presented a worldview.
HUBING SELECTS, founded to elevate Asian designers and creative talent onto the global stage, has matured into a cultural bridge between China’s craft ecosystems and international fashion capitals. This season, the platform sharpened its mission with a new proposition: Finishing in China – a label intended to spotlight the artistry, technical mastery, and aesthetic refinement emerging from China’s creative industries. URBAN GRACE became the first full expression of that idea, weaving together three imagined eras – 1930, 2030, 3030 – through the evolving language of leather.
1930 – The Birth of Urban Elegance
The show opened in a world shaped by the cosmopolitan pulse of 1930s Shanghai and London. Leather appeared structured, architectural, and deliberate – a material sculpted into silhouettes that echoed Art Deco geometry. Shoulders sharpened, lines elongated, and the palette leaned into polished blacks and sepia warmth.
This opening act established the show’s central thesis: urban grace emerges from the tension between industry and refinement. Leather, often associated with utility, was elevated into a symbol of early modern sophistication, capturing the optimism and ambition of cities stepping into modernity.
2030 – Rituals in a Fast City
The second act shifted into a near future defined by velocity – the relentless pace of modern cities and the rituals that keep us grounded. Here, leather softened. It became lighter, more adaptive, paired with silk and gauze in a choreography of movement.
Designer Aya’s process was meticulous, involving repeated recalibration of material load-bearing relationships to ensure leather’s weight harmonized with textile softness. The garments moved with the wearer, reflecting a future where elegance is kinetic rather than static.
This era felt closest to our present – a reminder that the future is already arriving, one garment at a time.
3030 – A Speculative Future of Light
The final act leapt a thousand years ahead, imagining a world where leather behaves like light and light behaves like material. Garments curved, glowed, and floated. Leather was reinterpreted as a futuristic medium – luminous, sculptural, almost weightless.
The interplay of hard vs. soft, heavy vs. light, became a metaphor for future identities: fluid, hybrid, technologically augmented. This act positioned Chinese craftsmanship not only as a guardian of tradition but as a creator of futures, capable of imagining new material languages and new aesthetic possibilities.
Craftsmanship Spotlight – Haining Leather, Zhejiang
The technical backbone of the collection came from Haining, Zhejiang — a region renowned for leather innovation. Their expertise enabled the transformation of conceptual sketches into tactile reality, grounding the futuristic narrative in real industrial capability.
This collaboration demonstrated how regional craft ecosystems can support global-facing design, reinforcing Hu Bing’s message: China’s creative industries are ready for international recognition not just as manufacturers, but as innovators.
Finishing in China – A New Proposition
This season marked the first formal introduction of Finishing in China, Hu Bing’s long-term craft tag.
- It emphasizes aesthetic judgment, material innovation, and technical finishing.
- It reframes China’s role in fashion from “where things are made” to “where things are perfected.”
- It aims to become a recognizable global label across fashion, accessories, footwear, and beyond.
Hu Bing’s ambition is clear: to bring Chinese craftsmanship from backstage to centre stage, establishing a new vocabulary for global fashion that acknowledges the artistry happening within China’s borders.
Cultural Exchange
URBAN GRACE is part of the Hundred Fashion Faces Going Global Project, now in its third year. The 2026 cohort includes designers, artisans, footwear creators, accessory makers, material specialists, and even a pianist – a multidisciplinary approach that signals a new era of Chinese cultural export.
Hu Bing emphasises that China’s fashion ambition is not “self-entertainment,” but international conversation. URBAN GRACE is the latest chapter in that dialogue, a showcase that blends cultural heritage with forward-looking imagination.
Most importantly, it introduces Finishing in China as a new chapter in global fashion language – one that celebrates the artistry, innovation, and technical mastery flourishing within China’s creative industries.
URBAN GRACE: Leather & Light reads like a love letter to time itself – a temporal journey stitched together by leather, light, and imagination. It argues that elegance is timeless, but its materials and meanings evolve. It positions leather as a metaphor for cultural resilience and light as a symbol of future possibility.
