Handy with fashion tech

Chinese gold medalist at the 2017 WorldSkills Competition helps train new contestants for a special edition, Li Yingxue reports.

In 2008, then-10-year-old Hu Ping was happy to see fireworks in the streets on the night of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. During the Games, she celebrated China's medal tally and says she felt that people who fight for the honor of their country are quite remarkable.

At that time, she didn't think that one day she would be representing China as a champion in a non-sports field.

Hu won the gold medal for fashion technology at the 44th WorldSkills Competition held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates in 2017. The biennial competition is considered the top contest in the sector.

In September, China announced its delegation for the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition. This was the replacement for the competition that was to be held in Shanghai in October but got canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak there. Hu became the training coach for the Chinese participants to prepare for the competition, passing on her experience and skills in fashion design and production.

As an ace in the field, Hu spends her day engaging in handy work such as painting, stitching, sewing, cutting and holding an iron. Although Hu is just 24, her fingers appear to be wrinkled due to their constant use.

"Applying hand cream will make my hands slippery, which affects my work," Hu says. "My teacher always tells us that people who work with clothing cannot leave any smell on the clothes you make."

When Hu was a child, she liked to paint and make clothes for her dolls. In 2013, she decided to turn her hobby into professional study, for which she went to Beijing Industry and Trade Technician College, majoring in fashion designing and production.