Synopsis of Milk & Fashion

A coming-of-age drama set in modern-day Shanghai as well as traditional Yunnan. A cross-cultural love story.

Brought up in rural southwest China by his American anthropologist father, Tyler has always felt like an outsider. Despite speaking fluent Chinese he has made few friends and is ridiculed because of his appearance. Unable to accept his father’s new wife, Namu, and resentful of having to act as his father’s translator, Tyler has retreated into a fantasy world inhabited by an imaginary basketball-playing friend and the memory of his late mother. He dreams of one day being a ballet dancer like his mother, but knows this will never happen if he remains living where he is now.

Hope comes in the form of his uncle, Jack, who suggests that Tyler should come to live with him in Shanghai. Tyler enthusiastically accepts his uncle’s offer and moves to the big city. He soon discovers, though, that this change of location brings with it a whole new set of problems.

Hoping to make friends at the basketball court, he instead gets beaten up by the local players. To make matters worse, he finds himself falling in love with Chen Ling, the girlfriend of one of his attackers. A top ballet student, whose father is a professional basketball player, this girl seems to have everything Tyler desires; unfortunately, she doesn’t even know he exists. If he could only win a place at the ballet school then he could get closer to her and maybe even fulfill his ambition of being a dancer; but with no formal training, this dream seems impossible.

Meanwhile, Jack’s cultural investment company is staging an international fashion design competition. One of the potential competitors is Yao Yao, a teacher at the ballet school, who wants to become a designer. She is desperate to compete, but doesn’t have the money to pay for expensive materials or to hire models. Her plight is discovered by Anna, the editor of a fashion magazine, who suggests that Yao Yao should ask Jack’s company for financial assistance.

Jack is initially unsure about helping Yao Yao, as he doesn’t want to be accused of favoritism towards any of the competitors. However, Anna informs Jack that she has seen Yao Yao’s designs and recognizes real talent in them. Eventually, Jack tells Yao Yao that he will provide her with financial assistance if she agrees to take his nephew, Tyler, as a student at the ballet school.

Tyler begins his studies at the ballet school and is finally able to spend time with Chen Ling. He also grows close to his teacher, Yao Yao, who reminds him of his mother. However, he reacts angrily, when he discovers that he was only admitted to the school as a favor to Jack. He argues with Jack and suggests that Yao Yao is only interested in them because she wants to do well in the fashion competition. Yao Yao and Jack are hurt by this accusation, as they have developed romantic feelings for each other. Consequently, when Jack offers Yao Yao the assistance he had promised her for the competition, she refuses it, as she is worried that people will think that her success has been bought. Meanwhile, one of Yao Yao’s rivals, Lucia, is attempting to manipulate the competition in her favor: she seduces Jack’s project manager, Karl, and persuades him to book all the best models for her show and to withhold the best fabrics from the other competitors.

Chen Ling tells Tyler that she thinks the real reason for his anger towards Yao Yao is that she reminds him of his mother; he feels threatened by Yao Yao’s relationship with Jack. She assures Tyler that nobody will ever replace his mother, but advises him that he must try to move on. If he wants to make his dreams come true, then he must stop fantasizing and start to really apply himself. Tyler attempts to follow her advice and starts to study with a new intensity.

Yao Yao decides that if she can’t afford to use professional models, she will ask her students from the ballet school to help her. She is reconciled with Tyler and they work together with the other students to prepare her show. Despite Lucia’s underhand tactics she is not able to overcome the passion and talent of Yao Yao. When the competition takes place, the judges are overwhelmed by the brilliance of her designs and the originality of her show, which climaxes with Tyler dancing hand-in-hand with Yao Yao. In the audience, Jack looks on proudly, together with Tyler’s father and step-mother. Yao Yao is awarded first prize and she rushes to embrace Jack after the announcement. She tells him that because she has achieved her success by herself, they are now able to pursue their relationship without any accusations of favoritism. Tyler joins Jack and Yao Yao and also hugs his father and stepmother. Tyler thanks Chen Ling for her advice; he is now finally able to leave his imaginary world behind and make peace with the real world. He doesn’t know what lies ahead, but – like Jack and Yao Yao – he is ready to embrace the future and all it has to offer.