Jiang Qiong'er (standing) with her family.[Photo provided to China Daily]

For Jiang Qiong'er, the CEO and designer of Shangxia, selling merchandise is a small part of her mission

A fashion model usually is young and has a perfect body, but Jiang Qiong'er, CEO and designer of Chinese brand Shangxia says her favorite model is her 96-year-old grandmother.

Her grandmother has been her model since she launched Shangxia in 2009 in Shanghai. Through the lenses of French photographer Paolo Roversi, the old woman with white hair and wrinkles on her face, looks beautiful and elegant.

"Shangxia is about time and emotion. My grandmother is a great model to showcase this," Jiang said at the Global Fashion Forum organized by Women's Wear Daily (WWD) recently in Beijing.

WWD, the world's leading journal of news and trends in fashion, beauty and retail, hosted the forum to bring together a global community of retail and brand executives and designers to explore the economic, consumer and design forces that are shaping the future of fashion in China.

Jiang, 40, with her brand Shangxia, which was cofounded with French luxury brand Hermes, is an example of how fashion is evolving on the mainland.

Jiang is the third generation of a Chinese artist's family in Shanghai.