When studying fashion design in the early 1990s in Shanghai, Wang Yiyang eyed the poofy stand-up collars and other flashy couture designed by fellow students inspired by the West - and decided to steer clear of it.

The then 20-year-old designer from China' s northeastern Jilin province instead wanted to make clothing inspired by China. The decision resulted in Zuczug, an 11-year-old women's fashion label that he created with Huang Zhifeng . Many of China' s fashion critics believe Zuczug has created a sustainable business predating the Chinese emergence of Gap Inc. and Hennes & Mauritz, offering Tibetan-print parkas and Chinese zodiac scarves and sweaters that express a time and culture different from the West.

Industry insiders and experts tip their hat to Mr. Wang for making design accessible to consumers long before the current flood of Chinese fashion designers emerged to make a name for themselves. 'Everyone wants to create a brand now, but think back 10 years ago, and Wang Yiyang was the only one attempting to do this,' said Yeh Shaway, editorialdirector of Chinese media company Modern Media.

Zuczug, with a starting investment of 500,000 yuan, has established a chain of 73 stores across the country (For a comparison, Gap has around 25 stores in China) that offer women seasonable collections of clothing ranging dresses with bodices made of camel wool to skirts knit from multicolored wool yarn that is meant to be timeless and expressive.

While prices are premium -- a pair of orange stretch-Spandex riding pants costs 1,150 yuan -- the brand is meant to be approachable. Zuczug uses natural models who are chosen for their character rather than their figure, Mr. Wang said.