A Qiu Hao wraparound coat and handbag from his latest woolen collection as seen at Shanghai Fashion Week. Photos: Cai Xianmin/GT

A Qiu Hao wraparound coat and handbag from his latest woolen collection as seen at Shanghai Fashion Week.

A model shows off a cheerful outfit from Spanish fashion brand Celia B, which takes inspiration from fabrics and prints of minority groups from all around the world.

The dancers who brought life to He Yan's latest designs on the catwalk turn the show into a dance presentation.

One of Ji Cheng's creations showing her use of embroidered crane shadows and Chinese themes.

Shanghai-born designer Ji Cheng can't remember how many times she has participated in Shanghai Fashion Week (SFW), but she has been certainly one of the most familiar names for the town's fashionistas since SFW was first established in 2003. SFW runs from April 9 to 17 this year.

Last Thursday afternoon at a runway show during the SFW 2014 Autumn/Winter, at Taiping Lake at Xintiandi, Ji celebrated her eponymous brand's 10-year history with six representative examples from her previous designs, after unveiling her latest collection, He Ying.

Compared with her earlier, more extravagant styles, He Ying, which was inspired by elegant crane shadows, seems much more practical for daily life. As well as elegant embroidered dresses and graceful long coats, Ji presented a series of sweaters, with sleeves ornamented by hand-embroidered crane feathers.

"After 10 years, I think I'm no longer the designer who was absorbed in her own world and cared nothing about the response of the market. Now I want to express Chinese elements in a more subtle way in my designs and make my clothes more functional and practical for a variety of occasions," said Ji, who, since 2012, has also showcased her collections in London Fashion Week.

Also changing his approach was the International Woolmark Prize winner Qiu Hao, who surprised the audience with a series of pink and olive green woolen coats and dresses - previously he accentuated black, white and grey.

"I just wanted to challenge myself a little bit this time, with colors I disliked but it turns out that they're not that ugly for me," said the Shanghai-based designer after his show on Thursday. For this collection, the only material Qiu used was carded wool yarn, washed in hot water before tailoring (this keeps the clothes from shrinking later).

Beside their ingenious styles, the SFW fashion designers impressed spectators with their cleverly mounted shows. Hong Kong wedding dress designer Fanny Ng's SFW debut on Thursday night featured teen dancer Wei Caiqi, who famously swirled nonstop for four hours in the national Spring Festival gala this year, to bring her wedding dress show to a dramatic finish.

On Sunday afternoon, Shanghai designer He Yan transformed her catwalk show into a modern dance performance with dancer friends appearing as her models.

Dancers, wearing dresses made from material usually reserved for menswear and featuring a combination of fine imported materials and ordinary materials found locally, swirled, leaped, paced and even reclined during the show.

"I wanted to express through dance the feelings of people caught in social occasions, where some are uncomfortable and behave strangely," He explained after the show.

These clothes were all especially made for the dancers - she had always wanted to do a dance show with these friends.

SFW, which will see in total 45 runway shows of domestic and foreign brands, this year also opened showrooms at Xintiandi to retail the clothes of the participant designers.