From Marni To Independent Designers Are Concerned About Minority Culture.

Although China's ethnic minorities account for less than 9% of the 1 billion 400 million population, their cultural influence is far beyond the proportion of their population when it comes to their extremely unique traditions and handicrafts.
The traditional costumes of Hmong women, "bird clothing", is an amazing handmade fabric made up of red, yellow, green and blue tapestry. Embroidered with flowers, birds, insects, fish and butterflies, embroidered and batik techniques adorned a circle of birds.
This is a clothing culture with a history of 5000 years. It is known as "the epic of Miao nationality". It is far from the impression of modern mass production of fashion and cheap labor, and is also out of step with the rising fast pace of modern urban life. In today's China, buying the latest Zara or H&M in the local shopping mall, or ordering Taobao apps in mobile phones, and buying a star share are undoubtedly more convenient and cheaper.
Nowadays, these traditional inheritors are few and the number is decreasing year by year. But recently, people's attention to them and the acceptance of traditional brands by clothing brands at home and abroad are regenerating the traditional handicrafts of Chinese minorities.
In the gathering of Shanghai fashion week, under the leadership of talented and innovative creative director Francesco Risso, Italy brand Marni, who has just undergone the revival of design, announced that it will join hands with Miao traditional artisans to launch new works. The Miao nationality has a history of 5000 years, with an existing population of about 9000000. It is famous for its complex embroidery, lace, plucking techniques and heavy silver headwear.
Risso stayed in Guizhou for 10 days, did a lot of research, and took a series of photographs. In the end, the project will be reflected in the ready-made garments series. The product is expected to be released in Beijing in March next year, and will be sold simultaneously in the selected boutiques and selected boutiques in China.
The designer told BoF during his activities in Shanghai: "I have fallen in love with the Miao people. Their interpretation of time makes you wonder whether we should redefine the concept of luxury and imagine that there is a purpose beyond rush consumption.
Marni is not the only international brand to develop Miao's Millennium skills. Earlier this year, the Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo announced that it plans to employ 400 Miao women to make embroidery for Uniqlo products, which will be rewarded by customers for clothing recycling at stores.
The clothing giant now has more than 700 sales outlets in China and plans to break through 1000 stores in the next three years. The localization efforts and the price of the people in China have won the favor of Chinese consumers.
"Chinese consumers have become more rational and no longer blindly follow suit or imitate others. They want products that have both local culture and local consumption thinking, "said Pan Ning, chief executive of China's regional business.
In recent years, CCTV's series of documentaries and reports in many local newspapers have pointed out that the cheaper and more convenient machine building products are pouring in, which is irresistible, while Chinese traditional handicrafts are almost lost. To this end, the government established the "cultural and Natural Heritage Day" in 2017 to enhance people's understanding and support for these "intangible national treasures" and avoid them from vanishing forever.
In China, fashion and accessories designers have launched a campaign that combines local artisans and handicrafts to promote and extend this tradition.
The works of Chen Anqi (Angel Chen) always contain elements of Chinese traditional culture. Her 2019 spring summer series is inspired by the traditional gold embroidery of his hometown, Chaozhou, using many traditional gold wire embroidery techniques. "I want to learn from the culture of Chaozhou, because I really like it and it is integrated into my blood. I think it should be respected and shared with customers around the world, "she said. In the 2019 autumn and winter series, she used the Qiang's Woolen Rhododendron embroidery and other elements of Qiang culture, presenting a series of modern and national.
Long Hong Zi Wei is an Yi people who comes from the beautiful lake Lugu Lake in Yunnan. After graduating from the London Fashion Institute in 2017, she was inspired by the geometric design of the Yi traditional silver ornaments, and founded the jewelry brand Soft Mountains.
"This is not just a jewelry brand. We hope to create a platform for promoting the culture of ethnic minorities. When I left my hometown, I found that people did not know Yi people. I felt very uncomfortable, "said Longhong purple.
Soft Mountains has studios in Shanghai and London. Its works are all hand-made by a few Yi artisans, ranging from 98 US dollars to 350 dollars. At present, most customers come from China's first tier cities, but this situation is expected to change with the brand landing on Net-a-Porter.
Although the success of Soft Mountains is easily confused with the increasingly strong nationalism and heritage heritage of Chinese young people, but long Hong Zi Wei believes that design is the most important. She said that the traditional and technological elements of ethnic minorities are an additional advantage rather than a decisive factor in consumer buying.
On the contrary, Chen Anqi feels that Chinese people are more proud of their traditional handicrafts because they are complementary to the growing geopolitical and economic strength of China's country. She believes that although more brands enter the Chinese market, they will not affect distinctive traditional handicrafts.
"Chinese consumers are tired of ordinary and mass produced goods. They are eager to see something that has not yet been discovered, history and stories. Consumers are looking for something more soulful, "Chen Anqi said.
The same view was endorsed by Felicie Corre-Le Blan. She worked in Herm s for a long time and came to China with this famous French luxury goods company. Since then, she has set up fashion and lifestyle brand Chinoises, making embroidery embroidered jackets with Miao artists, each retailing around $430.
Since the opening of e-commerce website in May this year, the brand has been sought after by fashion celebrities such as Julia Restoin Roitfeld.
"As consumers, what I want is something that can last forever, not just a season. I think the idea may be to promote handicrafts that people do not know, introduce minorities, but also to do something that you will retain for a long time, and it will not be out of date in a few months, "Corre-Le Blan said.
Although she thinks most Chinese consumers are not yet actively pursuing traditional handicrafts of ethnic minorities (most of the consumers of Chinoises come from Europe), they undoubtedly appreciate this effort to support minority arts, and an international brand is also committed to exploring and promoting these processes.