Chinese fashion gaining foothold overseas

陕西镇巴中学 李海运

Chengdu is creating new fashionable trends with its local traditional handicrafts.

Sheme, a Chengdu women's shoe brand founded in 2009,incorporates embroideryinto its designs.Targeting the high-end international market,the brand debuted its collection at the 2013 London Fashion Week, with its unique Eastern aesthetics impressing on the international stage.

Liu Qiongying,founder of Sheme,started the business from a small leather shoe workshop,which originally worked for overseas brands.As her business expanded, Liu said Sheme started participating in international exhibitions and even winning overseas orders.

The success ignited Liu's desire to develop aproprietaryhigh-end shoe brand.She had spent 10 years looking for top footwear designers,technicians and creative directors worldwide to establish a research and development team,in an effort to design shoes featuring traditional Chinese culture and fashion elements.In July,Sheme staged its fourth show at a fashion week event in Paris and its original shoe designs are currently on display at the century-old German Leather Museum.

Another Chinese craft looking to get a popularity boost is traditional bamboo weaving.

Daoming town in Chongzhou,a city under the administration of Chengdu,is home to many bambooweaving businesses.For a long time,local villagers made their living from using bamboo to weave necessities.But now,locals have developed the craft into an industry covering many more areas of daily life.

“In the past, most of the bamboo-weaving items were farm tools,but now we want to make our creations fashionable,”said Ding Chunmei,an inheritor of the craft and the founder of bambooweaving brand,Dingzhizhu.

While inheriting the traditional weaving techniques,craftsmen also need to innovate and integrate their creations into daily life.

Cultural creativity has become a pillar of local economy,with the fashion industry listed one of its eight major sectors.

According to its city plan,the added output value of the cultural and creative industry,including the fashion sector,is expected to surpass 260 billion yuan by the end of 2022,accounting for 12 percent of its GDP.

Language Study

Word bank

1.incorporate/ın΄kɔːpəreıt/v.将……包括在内

2.embroidery/ım΄brɔıdəri/n.刺绣

3.proprietary/prə΄praıətri/adj.专营的

4.integrate/΄ıntıɡreıt/v.（使）成为一体

Critical Thinking

What contributes to the success of Chengdu's fashion?