Traditional Costume Designer Cai Xiaotong: Inspire Creative Design With Classic Images

"China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; the beauty of clothing is called Hua." Traditional clothing is an important carrier of excellent traditional Chinese culture, showing unique aesthetic charm. From the exhibition in the museum, to the presentation of stage art, to the integration of contemporary life... Today, more and more young people understand and love traditional clothing, endow traditional clothing with vitality, and enrich the contemporary expression of national style and tide. This edition of the "Generation Z Chinese Style" column has launched a special report, focusing on the inheritance and innovation of traditional clothing by the younger generation, and feeling the vigorous creativity and strong cultural confidence of Generation Z.

Traditional costume designer Cai Xiaotong——

Inspire creative design with classic images

"A traditional dress design was uploaded on the short video platform, and many netizens commented on 'planting grass' and' collecting '." At the end of the day's work, the first thing Cai Xiaotong did when he returned home was to read netizens' comments.

Cai Xiaotong, born in 1999, majored in fashion design at university, is currently a Han costume designer, and runs an online shop in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. "I began to contact with traditional clothing in high school, and with the deepening of understanding, I came up with the idea of engaging in this industry," Cai Xiaotong said.

The effect picture of the horse face skirt designed by Cai Xiaotong.

"Ru skirts and straight collars in the Tang Dynasty, facing skirts and corsets in the Song Dynasty, horse face skirts in the Ming Dynasty... The shapes of different costumes can reflect the characteristics of different historical periods." When talking about traditional costumes, Cai Xiaotong is as familiar as a book.

Walking into the sample room of the company, she showed the reporter a set of traditional clothes, in which the skirt was connected by zipper. Cai Xiaotong explained, "We try to integrate the design of modern fashion, so that more people can enjoy the 'new Han style clothes' in their daily life."

In Cai Xiaotong's view, cultural connotation is an important competitiveness of traditional clothing, and also a rich mine to inspire design creativity. "We will explore the classic images in traditional culture and flexibly apply them to design," Cai Xiaotong said.

Museums and ancient folk houses have become places where Cai Xiaotong often goes to look for design inspiration. "When visiting Kaifeng Museum, the pattern of an exhibit in the museum inspired my second creation." Cai Xiaotong recalled, "Kaifeng is the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, so we chose clothes that conform to the Song Dynasty system, added some elements of" Riverside Scene during the Qingming Festival ", and launched a set of 'new Han suits' co named with Kaifeng Museum."

Sometimes tens of thousands of orders can be obtained by publishing a design drawing online. How to improve production capacity has become another problem facing Cai Xiaotong. "We transformed the traditional jacquard machine to realize industrial production, which solved the problem of slow manual weaving and low production capacity, and let exquisite traditional clothing enter thousands of households," Cai Xiaotong said.

Developing, utilizing and embracing the market is also a way to make traditional skills "live". In the production of traditional jewelry, there is a kind of craft - Diancui. "Now, we use the weaving process of imitating makeup flowers to simulate Diancui and apply it to the design of horse dress to explore a richer level of Chinese aesthetics," Cai Xiaotong said.

After less than 3 years of employment, Cai Xiaotong witnessed the development of traditional clothing from a niche hobby to an increasingly popular one. "The industry is still developing. As far as our brand is concerned, more than half of our customers are over 30 years old." Cai Xiaotong said, "The charm of China's excellent traditional culture is infinite. Inherit the tradition and actively innovate. I believe that the charm of traditional clothing can spread further."

Exhibits of "Colorful Brocade Cluster - Chinese Costume Culture Exhibition" at China National Arts and Crafts Museum (China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum). Photographed by Song Jiaru

　 Visual packer Wang Feihong——

Present the beauty of traditional clothing with digital technology

"Can the stage costumes be more dynamic and three-dimensional?" In the special effect production of the 2024 Henan Spring Festival Gala, a dance that represents the nirvana of the phoenix - "The Phoenix Sings and the Rising Sun" has great visual impact. However, Lu Hongli, the chief director of the program, still felt that "the stage performance is not enough".

"It is possible to add a bigger and more dynamic phoenix tail to the actors' clothing through computer post synthesis." When the main creators felt awkward, Wang Feihong, visual packager of the visual design group of the visual production center of Henan Satellite TV, volunteered. Under his skillful hand, "Phoenix" has been added with gorgeous feathers, and it shines brilliantly on the stage. Among them, the picture of "Fire Phoenix" splashing in the river with its beautiful tail feathers dancing in the wind was also used as a cover poster, which was praised by many netizens.

"The innovative way of 'science and technology+traditional clothing' can greatly improve the stage expression of traditional clothing." Wang Feihong said that, in the thousands of years of artistic inheritance, clothing, dance, modeling, etc., which show the image of Phoenix, are becoming more and more fixed. "In order to better present the visual tension of traditional clothing, modern image and visual processing technology are essential, which is also my main work. ”

Wang Feihong, born in Shangqiu, Henan Province in 2001, has been fond of painting since childhood. "I majored in computer art design in technical secondary school, advertising design and production in junior college, and visual communication design in undergraduate college." Wang Feihong said that learning in different fields gradually shifted his professional field from graphic design to three-dimensional design. In 2023, after graduation, Wang Feihong joined Henan Satellite TV and participated in the post production of Chinese festival series.

"Dancing beauty is a major reason for the success of the Chinese festival series. Behind it is the innovative use of digital technology, as well as the re understanding and re presentation of the excellent traditional culture of China." Wang Feihong said that how to better display the traditional clothing with a specific shape and the imprint of the times on the screen, and match the current aesthetic taste, is a matter of clothing design System engineering from performance to post production.

Taking the programs of "Dream in Style" and "God Horse Auspicious Cloud" in the 2024 Henan Spring Festival Gala as an example, "In" Dream in Style ", each set of costumes on the stage corresponds to different scenes. We have also modified the color and stripes of the costumes, coupled with the diffuse smoke, to create a dancing shape in the wind, so that the audience can feel it." Wang Feihong said, "In" God Horse Auspicious Cloud " In, we used AI technology to make post decoration and production for modeling movements such as red ribbon winding, which is difficult to restore. "

In Wang Feihong's view, the application of AI technology is one of the driving forces of "technology+traditional clothing". "Using AI technology to generate concept maps of characters, costumes and scenes in the early stage, and then modify them according to the script, can save nearly half of the production time." Wang Feihong said that today's self can focus more on creativity, "I believe that through new scientific and technological means, the beauty contained in traditional costumes can be seen by more people."

Cut silk phoenix and wear peony.

Liu Jingru, a lover of traditional clothes——

Falling in love with Hanfu starts with "appearance" and ends with connotation

"Dong Dong Da......" With the music beat, in the video, a girl with a high ponytail, white short sleeves and jeans appeared. Suddenly, she changed her appearance by twisting her hair, putting on makeup, wearing a Tang skirt, and her clothes swayed gently with the pace, smiling, bright and moving.

In Caoxian County, Shandong Province, the reporter saw the girl in cross dressing in this video. Her name is Liu Jingru. She was born in 2006. She is a student of Cao County Vocational Education Secondary School.

In recent years, the Han clothing industry in Caoxian has developed rapidly, and the national tide has also blown into the campus. The first time I saw a student in a Han suit, Liu Jingru's eyes lit up: "When the club recruited new students, they walked on the campus in different styles of Han suits, which deeply attracted me."

Liu Jingru's love for traditional clothes begins with "face value" and ends with connotation. At first, she was only attracted by the external color and shape of the clothes, but after joining the Han Costume Club, she gradually began to understand the cultural beauty behind traditional clothes. "Costumes of different dynasties have different characteristics. I like Tang style costumes, which are elegant, elegant and gorgeous." Liu Jingru said, "To understand the evolution of traditional costumes in different historical periods and learn the historical and cultural knowledge behind them, I understand that the style and characteristics of Tang style costumes are closely related to the prosperous economy and open and inclusive social fashion of the Tang Dynasty."

Clothing is the carrier of cultural etiquette. After associating with traditional clothing, Liu Jingru will not only imitate the makeup of people in different periods according to clothing, but also learn the corresponding etiquette rules and forms. "For example, the 'fork hand ceremony' was a common ritual in the Tang Dynasty to express respect and respect." She crossed her hands in front of her chest and leaned forward slightly. "The left hand should hold the right hand, and the thumb of the right hand should be turned up."

The more you know, the more you love. Gradually, Liu Jingru had an idea: to spread the beauty of traditional clothing. Organize the "Hanfu Tour" into the scenic spot and arrange a series of dance programs... Liu Jingru and members of the Hanfu Club will go to the nearby scenic spot to perform on holidays. "When I am free, I like to ponder over every action detail, hoping to attract more people to pay attention to Han suits," Liu Jingru said.

With the rise of short videos, traditional clothing has come into the view of more people. "In the past year, I have seen many online bloggers take videos of cross dressing, hiking and traveling in traditional clothes, and I am also learning to make such videos." Liu Jingru slides the screen of her mobile phone to show the videos she has taken, "You see, recently the horse face skirt exploded, and I took a cross dressing video. I am a beginner, and my level needs to be improved."

"I hope more people can see that traditional clothes are not only beautiful clothes, but also profound culture behind them," Liu Jingru said. (Reporter: Li Zong, Bi Jingjin, Li Rui)

(Source: People's Daily)

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