New fashion using ancient craftsmanship hits runways

"These are not only fabrics but also the contemporary cultural expression of millennial Li brocade. Integrating with traditional Chinese culture and modern textile technology, we hope to bring this ancient intangible cultural heritage to the global stage," says Xue Wenliang, leader of the team and a professor at the College of Textiles at Donghua University in Shanghai.

The collaboration between the team and Skytex dates back to July 2022. Last summer, tracking the path of Huang Daopo, a textile pioneer in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) born in today's Shanghai, the team journeyed to Hainan province. Immersing themselves in Li ethnic communities, they learned the culture and techniques behind the traditional craft.

Xue says that compared with other renowned ancient Chinese brocades that use silk as the main material, such as the Yunjin and Songjin brocades from Jiangsu province, Li brocade is less known and is made of cotton, which China farmed on a large scale until the late Tang Dynasty (618-907). However, the jacquard fabrics at the Paris show were created with the high-end market in mind.