Everyday wear like casual shirts, T-shirts, jackets and denim, embroidered with traditional floral and phoenix patterns from the Yi ethnic group, staged a stunning runway show at recent New York Fashion Week, which took place on September 4-11.

Designer Wang Tao, who has become a regular at the event since her debut in the fall of 2014, unveiled the Taoray Taoray Spring/Summer 2020 collection from her Chinese youth brand. It's the first time Wang brought the youth line of her namesake brand Taoray Wang to New York's runway.

The Taoray Wang collection, tailored to power women, has already gained popularity, with its most famous U.S. customer being Tiffany Trump, the youngest daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, who wore a Taoray Wang outfit at her father's inauguration in January 2017.

Wang's new youth collection, embellished with Yi embroidery, a Chinese intangible cultural heritage, was a definite hit on the last night of the fashion week.

The audience was amazed by both the exquisite and mostly hand-embroidered colorful patterns and the perfect balance of modern and traditional elements.

Leah Coulter, a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, who dressed the models for the show, said the collection was a mix of old and new and loved all the patterns and embroidery, which aroused her interest in the unique handicraft dating back thousands of years. "I need to learn more about its history," Coulter said.

Models present the Taoray Taoray Spring/Summer 2020 collection at New York Fashion Week on September 11 (ZHAO WEI)

Reviving a tradition

It's not something new in the fashion world to incorporate China's intangible cultural heritages as elements of design, Wang said, but it's not easy to make them into true fashion.

"Intangible cultural heritages should not always be displayed in museums or only appear on souvenirs. I hope to break the stereotype [through using the Yi embroidery] and make them everyday, fashionable items," Wang told the media after the show. "I think fashion is the best way to introduce culture."

Wang's design ideas can be attributed to both her global experience as a fashion designer in Japan, the UK and China, and her unique educational background. Before receiving her second degree in fashion from Japan's top fashion institute Tokyo Mode Gakuen, she majored in history at East China Normal University in Shanghai.

In order to create her collection, Wang and her team went to Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province and delved into the culture and history of Yi's craftsmanship to gain insight into the essence, intricacy and symbolism of Yi embroidery.

But Wang's incorporation of the patterns, colors and techniques of Yi embroidery in her contemporary fashion designs is not a simple duplication. The combination of modern and traditional can't be too striking for it to be widely accepted as everyday wear, Wang said, adding that her goal is for people, regardless of gender, color or nationality, to like her designs.

A helping hand

According to Wang, the show is actually part of a poverty alleviation initiative launched by the Shanghai-based Orient International (Holding) Co. and the Chuxiong local government. She was in fact invited by the company to help Yi embroiders.

Although Yi embroidery has become an indispensable part of the life of the ethnic group, the ancient craftsmanship hasn't brought a decent livelihood to the inheritors. The Chuxiong local government has been making efforts to raise the living standard of local residents by promoting their craftsmanship.

According to Xu Xiaomei, a Chuxiong official, there are over 70,000 women doing embroidery in the prefecture, but the size of the industry is relatively small, with 400 businesses worth about 150 million yuan ($21 million) in total. Moreover, the industry mainly focuses on producing apparel and daily essentials for Yi people, souvenirs, and ornaments on handbags, suitcases and phone cases, said Xu.

Chuxiong has cooperated with Orient International, which presented Yi embroidery at Shanghai Fashion Week in April. It has also worked with Beijing-based EVE Group to create a database of patterns and embroiders so that global designers can access it and place their orders, Xu said.

Yi embroidery's presence at New York Fashion Week was a successful attempt to promote the intangible cultural heritage on the world stage, Xu added.

If more people at home and abroad learn to appreciate the aesthetic of the technique, the industry will grow at a faster pace and the people in Chuxiong can live a more prosperous life, Xu said.

Many audience members flocked backstage after the show and some inquired about whether the collection will be put into mass production and sold on the market. Wang was glad to hear it. "If people are willing to buy daily clothes with such unique embroidery, it can really help the local embroiders in Chuxiong," she said.

(Reporting from New York City)

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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