Chinese style clothing gains attention

A new oriental-style clothing fashion with a design combining traditional Chinese cultural elements with high quality materials and techniques is on the rise.

A fashion show themed "Contemporary Oriental-style Trends 2015" took place at Stage One, a fashion landmark in Beijing, on Oct 20. It displayed the emerging creative contemporary Chinese style garments of a group of clothing designers.

"The new Chinese style clothing show can strengthen cooperation between the Chinese style garment industry and companies to boost the steady progress of the industry," said Liu Yuanfeng, President of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT). 85 new Chinese style garments, including 72 suits and high-ranking ready-made items for men and 13 suits for women, all expressing the essence of Chinese traditional clothing, were debuted.

The men's garments included shirts, light outerwear, heavier coats for wind, topcoats, and suit pants. "Designers have different creative ideas. For example, one may try to demonstrate the spirit of men who pursue a high quality life by using seawater and abstract Chinese ink painting patterns to express a kind of restrained elegance found in traditional Chinese culture, said Wang Qi, manager of the BIFT Park.

The 13 suits for women show ladies' fine cultural taste through Chinese ancient clothes making techniques, such as using intangible cultural heritage hand-made buttons, Guangdong embroidery, and the enamelware buttons from Jingdezhen, a place famous for ceramics in China's Jiangxi province.

The show has won praise from the industry because of its exploration of Chinese traditional clothing culture; it has also drawn attention from research institutions. The China Fashion Institute and the BIFT Park will hold forums, exhibitions, and fashion shows to spread the Chinese style to the world.

The show was organized by the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, and the BIFT Park that was put into operation in October, 2012, as the only clothing fashion design project of Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park.

Liu Yuanfeng, President of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology,talks about the new Chinese style clothing show in an interview with media at the fashion show. [Photo provided to China Daily]