Young Uygur designer shows a passion for ethnic fashion

Potential

The videos ignited Mewlan's passion for fashion, pushing him to become a designer after graduation. Hoping he would still become a doctor, his parents strongly opposed his decision. Aygul even refused to help him make more costumes.

But Mewlan carried on, anyway. Having noticed the business potential behind the growing number of tourists to Kashgar, he opened his boutique in October. He rents out all the costumes he and his mother made, along with the jewelry they restored, to tourists who want to experience the old city as locals. He also sells handmade floral caps and purses.

"I hope tourists will not only buy Kashgar souvenirs, but also experience the fashion and cultures of Kashgar. In this old town they can travel in time," he said.

After his grandfather visited the boutique and saw how business was booming, he helped convince Mewlan's parents that this career path was the right one.

"Now, they are all supportive of me," the young store owner said. "One of my biggest successes is bringing new breakthroughs to my mother's tailoring career."

Aygul now works full-time for her son, as the ambitious designer has taken an increasing number of orders on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao. Mewlan has also hired five poverty-stricken families in rural Kashgar to produce handmade accessories, a move that supports the government's nationwide poverty reduction drive.

Without proper training, Mewlan said his inspiration comes from the city itself. When he wanders down winding alleys, the shape of a window, the patterns of a carpet or the wooden carving of an ornament can be his muse.

"The more I get to know about the history of the city, the beautiful stories in it, the more I come to love it," he said.

He spends most of his spare time visiting old tailors and craftsmen, and shopping at flea markets. When researching, he sticks to old books and photos, from which he has drawn the conclusion that clothes can record history and are a language through which different cultures can communicate.

"I care about the cultures, the history and the aesthetic values behind the costumes. More importantly, I would like to see how cultures blend together and what cultures these blended elements come from," he said.

Recently, he's been working on modern designs with traditional features to "promote beautiful Xinjiang cultures to more young people in a way they will like", he said, noting that mixing modern and traditional is a good way of passing on cultural heritage.

Mewlan plans to pursue fashion design studies in the future.

"I hope I can come up with more special designs for more people who would like to know about the charms of Xinjiang," he said.

Xinhua