Silk Road Star Designer Cheng Yingfen: Integrating Ancient And Modern Culture

At the time of China International Fashion Week, reporters and designer Cheng Yingfen held a dialogue. During the conversation, they should focus on telling us about the "Ai Lai Si pattern", so that we can have a better understanding of the beauty of western regions.

Reporter (HQ), Cheng Yingfen (short trip)

HQ: first, let's talk to you about your design concept for this international fashion week.

Cheng: the theme of the design is "latitude 45 degrees". As we all know, the geographical center of Asia is in Xinjiang. The latitude of this center is 43 degrees north latitude. Our country produces the best cashmere and wool in the whole country at 45 degrees north latitude. The output of fine wool is the largest in the whole country. We mainly use cashmere and wool in this series. We want to express our costumes culture through the characteristics of our raw materials. The design of the whole product is to continue our theme of the last quarter of the year, but we only use the knitting method to show the patterns of the Xinjiang fashion. Printing, dotted jacquard, all kinds of needles to express our Xinjiang people's love for this pattern. I have been doing research on this pattern continuously, and I have been inspiring to make this pattern like leopard print. It will be popular all year round, and this pattern will be used every year. Because our pattern has a history of over 3000 years, for our native people, this pattern is not familiar. I also want to bring this pattern to people across the country through fashion week, so that people all over the world will know this pattern and more people will like it. After all, such a long history can be preserved until now. It is really valuable.

HQ: your 2015 spring summer series "fusion" is the integration of ancient and modern culture with the characteristics of the Central Plains and western regions. What inspired you at that time?

Cheng: at my last press conference, there was a video showing the pattern. It was made by hand in Xinjiang Hotan area. It has its own characteristics. Its width is fixed 45 centimeters wide, and then its length is not infinite cycle, it is 6 meters 5, and it is Zha Valen dyeing. There is no such cloth in the whole country. It is a silk dyed in different colors. The pattern is entirely designed by the craftsman to make this thread, and the weaving of different yarns is very magical. When we discovered it before, it was basically worn by Uygurs. People from other ethnic groups hardly knew about it. And the styles they wear are very traditional. Later, we feel that such a unique technology of such beautiful patterns can be accepted by other nationalities. Later, we did a survey and found that the reason why other people did not wear them was that they felt too ethnic. So the general manager of our brand says whether we can combine this pattern with the current trend. Is it possible that more people will accept it? So this is our original intention of "integration".

HQ: you have been integrating traditional culture into design. Do you sometimes feel the ambivalence between tradition and fashion in the process of design? And how did you resolve it?

Cheng: there are contradictions, such as color, the traditional color of our fabric is red and green, that kind of color collision, a lot of very exciting colors. This color is due to geographical characteristics, Xinjiang is everywhere desert, Gobi, oasis is very small in Xinjiang, our life and our eyes need stimulation, so we chose to dress or furniture products to embellish life, in this case, so this pattern and fabric will tend to this color, such as high chroma, relatively strong, attracting everyone's eye, stimulate our nerves. So in our modern fashion society, the color is too exciting for us to accept. In the process of doing so, we will consult with the artisans, can we make the contrast of the color weaker. Maybe I still use scarlet, but I will be white, so I do not use yellow to crash. Also like this pattern, traditionally used in a group of groups, but now we use modern design techniques, such as permutation, combination, transformation of different positions and orders, patterns or previous patterns, but we have injected modern fashion elements into it. In style, we will choose to make a cloak or a tassel of Bohemia style to make a difference from its traditional traditional dress. The essence of traditional things is still there, but there are more fashion elements in it, so that more people can accept it.

HQ: design inspiration is very important for designers. How do you usually get design inspiration?

Cheng: I often go to collect folk songs. Since I began to study the patterns of AI's rice, I often went to Kashi area in southern Xinjiang, and went to ordinary farmers' families to communicate with them. Sometimes this kind of communication is very difficult. Many times, they don't know how to design their patterns, because they were handed down by his father's father, and he did not know why he did so. Then there is the language problem. The native people who have hardly left home are very poor in Chinese. My Uygur language is not very clever, so there are some obstacles in every communication. But because we show respect for their traditional culture, they will express their affection for you from the bottom of their heart, and will be willing to communicate with you in more ways. I think this is how people move from one another to another.

HQ: now we often say "China dream", and more and more Chinese designers are starting to go to the world. What kind of conditions do you think China's fashion designers should have on the way to the world?

Cheng: I think we must make our own characteristics. There is still a gap in quality between us and the rest of the world, but cultural integration is our characteristic. If you keep following the trend, it is difficult to have a place in the international arena. If we want to impress more people, we still need to play the card of culture. We often see whether a dress has a soul, and finally whether there is any culture in it. This style is very popular this year, but ten years later there is still a taste, actually it is to see its cultural connotation.

HQ: what kind of clothes do you usually choose when you are in the conference?

Cheng: I usually choose the same clothes as my show theme, for example, I chose a Chinese costume made of a series of fabrics on the previous occasion, and this time I will wear a knitted wool dress with the accessories of the dresses.