Chinese Fashion Defined

What is the Chinese style in contemporary fashion? Here's what several leading designers have to say.

M. S. Tsai (head of Long Range Corporation): It means expressing a Chinese flavor in clothes through an overall design combination of lines, colors, fabrics, ornaments, and accessories that use elements of Chinese architecture, sculpture, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, and auspicious atmosphere of festivals along with folk characteristics of the border peoples. It's a Chinese feeling that is both direct and infectious.

You Lee (head of Lee You Fashion Company): It means handling and arranging traditional artifacts with contemporary methods, while keeping design methods in line with international fashion trends at all times. Closefitting cuts are popular, for instance, and Chinese-style clothing can't be any different. People today lead active lives and move about a lot, so practicality is very important. It also has to be suitable for various occasions and avoid too dramatic an effect.

Carson Huang (head of Carson Huang Jone Inc.): It means permeating the design with a Chinese spirit and emphasizing the use of lines to express a refined, inner beauty that suits the contemporary woman. For example, using the aquamarine, white, and ash-gray tones of Sung ceramics and their contours or arcs as the design focus along with raw silk, cotton, or Other natural fabrics to express the simple, elegant style of a refined woman.

Isabelle Wen (president of Isabelle International Associate Co., Ltd.): Chinese-style clothing with a contemporary spirit plays down the Chinese motifs and makes use of plain and simple lines, exquisite workmanship and fabrics, and matching antique accessories. Colors are very important too, of course, and the ultimate purpose is to convey a Chinese feeling.

Traditional slanted and vertical buttoning methods are widely used in Chinese fashion design.

Shen Po-hung won top honors in the First Asian Design Competition with his China Sea series, which features layered collars, rounded shoulders, and spiral cuffs. （photo courtesy of the Taiwan Textile Federation）

The appropriate use of exquisite embroidery in garment design is another expression of the China look. （photo courtesy of Carson Huang）

The Taiwan Textile Federation held two seminars to encourage designers to set out from China in exploring different creative ideas. （photo by Vincent Chang）

The lovely sight of these beauty pageant contestants in cheongsams certainly contributed toward promoting Chinese dress.

Patterns from Chinese architecture often appear on designs for the improved cheongsam.