Dress with culture, the Hainan Li way

By Wu Ruolin / HICN / Updated: 19:29,08-December-2021

Hainan-based Liang Yuncheng is a craftsman who follows a traditional art with a modern approach. He designs cheongsams, the figure-hugging Chinese dress that was a symbol of modernity in the 1920s. Today’s cheongsam, also called qipao, is different from the original dress that was made from one piece of fabric, from front to back. Modern cheongsams are cut and stitched together at the shoulder and the waist to accentuate the bodyline. The sleeves are also spliced on. However, Liang insists on making traditional cheongsam. People flock to Liang due to his innovative designs and meticulous workmanship.


Liang practically inherited his art from his grandmother. His grandmother is a Li, a member of the minority community famed for their weaving and embroidery skills. She makes exquisite Li brocades, a signature product of the community. “She still weaves three to four hours every day, using threads made from kapok and natural dye,” Liang said. Kapok is a fiber obtained from the kapok tree and is rot-resistant and light. The Li minority do not have a written language and use motifs or totems to tell their stories. Liang’s grandmother weaves the motifs of her clan to pass on the Li culture, and now, her grandson too wants to do the same.


Liang’s entry into the world of fashion design started with a chance encounter with a teacher from the Beijing Institute Of Fashion Technology who was studying Hainan’s Li brocade and encouraged Liang to study fashion design. In the course of his studies at the Beijing Institute Of Fashion Technology, he found people from other minorities using elements of their culture in their work and it made him think. “I thought, since I am Li, why don't I use the beautiful Li elements to tell my stories?” That is how he started using traditional materials, designs and techniques in his work.


The cheongsams Liang makes use natural materials. “The threads we use are made of kapok, and the dye is extracted from natural plants found in the mountains. Some of the techniques used in the production process also come from our ancestors.”

Liang calls the frog closure, the traditional knot-like fastenings used in Chinese clothes instead of buttons, the finishing point of the cheongsam. In the past, frog closures were uniform in color and shape. But today, there is a wide variety of them. Liang uses Li motifs, like the motif of Dalishen, the mythological creator of the Li people and their guardian deity. The motif adds auspiciousness to the outfit, indicating the hope for a good life.


Liang wants more people to see and know about the cheongsam craft, to discover that it is both beautiful and suitable for daily lives. “I hope that more people see our work, the essence of the Lis, and the charm of our traditional craft,” he said.

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