China has a wide variety of items on its official intangible cultural heritage (ICH) list, and one of the most colorful folk crafts included is the embroidery of the Yi ethnic group. With a history stretching back 1,700 years, this art form has been handed down from mother to daughter and its designs reflect their close relationship with nature.

One of the largest of the 25 ethnic minorities in China's southwestern province of Yunnan, the Yi people number about 5 million. Many of them live in mountainous areas, isolated and difficult to reach for many years, until modernization and progress reached their villages. The brightly colored embroideries of flowers, animals and geometric designs that imbue their traditional dress with meaning and beauty are also a source of income, thanks to the local and provincial poverty-alleviation efforts in recent years. Moreover, the world of e-commerce and livestreaming is opening their market nationally.

Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture aims not only to increase the economic opportunities for Yi people in rural and mountainous areas, but also to preserve their traditional culture. Local women have received government support to start businesses built around the traditional embroidery, creating designs and products while being able to stay at home with their families instead of moving away for factory work. According to Zhang Wenwang, Commissioner of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, about 57,000 female embroidery workers generated 275 million yuan ($38.5 million) in revenue last year. He hopes the number of workers will increase to 100,000, bringing in as much as 1 billion yuan ($140 million) by 2025.

Chuxiong now aims to bring Yi embroidery to the world.

Its embroidery works have decorated clothing shown in fashion weeks in Milan, New York and Shanghai, and inspired by these events, the first China Chuxiong Fashion Week was born. Over a week stretching from December 30, 2023 to January 5, around 40 fashion shows were staged and related events held, such as displays of Yunnan's ICH products, tours of a Chuxiong Yi embroidery industrial park and a forum about national costume inheritance and development.

The fashion shows had a wide range: strictly traditional Yi costumes, ethnic attire from Hainan, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Fujian provinces, traditional fashions of the Han, China's largest ethnic group, and modern designs incorporating time-honored elements.

Additionally, some modern creations previously shown at global fashion weeks were presented and groups from South and Southeast Asian countries, including Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos and Bangladesh, brought to the stage their ethnic designs.

During the forum, scholars and fashion designers discussed how to protect ethnic costume traditions while innovating in the modern era.

The subjects discussed included the traditional fabric weaving methods of Hainan's Li ethnic group, translating traditional costume elements into athletic designs for the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, late last year, preserving ICH relics through digitization, how the study of traditional designs and ancient museum textiles can inspire fashion design in the modern world and encourage young people to appreciate ICH, securing the future of Yi embroidery through business collaborations, and how to use online resources to expand the craft's reach nationally and globally.

The audience included many Yi people dressed to the nines in beautifully embroidered and vibrant costumes, members of other ethnic groups in traditional attire along with Chinese and foreign media.

After days of fantastic fashion events, the week concluded with a big gala, featuring traditional Yi costumes, songs and dances, and models strutting across the stage wearing various designs from the many fashion shows during the week.

The grand finale to the fashion week further included a Silk Road Style show presenting customary clothes from the aforementioned countries and ethnic group garb from around China. It ended with a parade of modern fashions inspired by or incorporating traditional elements of Yi design that had been previously shown at Milan Fashion Week.

Chuxiong is known as the "City of Fire," based on the ancient mythology of the Yi people's god who gave them fire, and a long history of fire festivals commemorating this gift.

Fire is also representative of the Yi people in their enthusiasm, optimism and a tradition of welcoming guests. It figures in an old Chinese saying "as enthusiastic as fire."

The efforts to preserve and promote Yi embroidery around the world definitely have made Chuxiong Fashion Week as "enthusiastic as fire."

(Reporting from Chuxiong, Yunnan Province) 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

Comments to pamelatobey@cicgamericas.com