His collections, sharp and mischievous, treat pop culture as raw material, dismantling and reassembling its icons with a knowing wink. His recent explorations of Sex and the City characters are a case in point—less an homage than a reprogramming, filtering their personas through a modern lens that questions, rather than simply celebrates, traditional femininity.
MARKGONG has become “one to watch” in China’s new wave of designers recalibrating fashion’s global narrative. As one of the first Chinese brands of his generation to achieve widespread international visibility, Gong has cultivated a devout following among A-list celebrities—Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Lisa, and Sabrina Carpenter among them. In doing so, he has moved the needle on how Chinese designers are seen, not just as participants in the global luxury economy but as architects of its future.
CATCH US IF U CAN
There seems to be a rule that women’s freedom must have rules. That it should look graceful, contained, respectable. Thelma and Louise disagreed. They drove straight past the rules, into the dust and the sun, and never looked back. Their story was not an escape but a declaration. A refusal to live within someone else’s version of safety. That defiant spirit sets fire to MARKGONG’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection.
Catch Us If U Can revisits the film’s raw rebellion and its quiet heartbreak. Every man they meet on the road is a mirror of control: the savior, the seducer, the oppressor. Every encounter reminds them that even kindness can come with strings attached. Their response is simple, keep moving. Exploding a truck, outrunning the authority, rejecting every hand that pretends to help. The power is not in revenge but in choosing to keep going, together, until the end. In today’s world, women are still told to be strong but soft, ambitious but likable, visible but contained. Thelma and Louise refused all of it. Their story may read like a tragedy, but to us it is a triumph. It is about liberation in its most imperfect form, messy, impulsive, and real.
This season, MARKGONG is not interested in tidy endings. Freedom is complicated. Liberation can hurt. But choosing to drive off the cliff, together, was still a choice; and perhaps the only way to keep going. What is a real happy ending? Every woman deserves the chance to write her own. When the world refuses to change, do you drive faster, or do you stop?
“Thank you to every woman who refuses to wait for permission. You are the reason we keep driving. This collection is for the ones who take the wheel, set their own pace, and never slow down. CATCH US IF U CAN.” — Mark
