SHANGHAI, China — Zhou Zhuguang surveys his
Shanghai workshop and rows of workers meticulously stitching high-collared
Chinese dresses known as qipao, some of which sell for nearly $5,000.
اضافة اعلان
“It’s a highly skilled craft,” said Zhou, co-founder
of Hanart, one of China’s most well-known qipao makers.
“Some of our tailors spend a lifetime learning to
make qipao.”
The price tag also reflects enduring demand for the
qipao, known as a cheongsam in Hong Kong and overseas
Chinese communities.
Drawing on traditional design elements, the dress
was popularized in 1920s Shanghai, its form-fitting cut capturing the glamour
of that free-wheeling pre-communist era and the desire of Chinese women to
liberate themselves from traditionally subservient roles.
The qipao disappeared after the
Communist Party —
which considered it decadent and bourgeois — took power in 1949.
The dress’s comeback is due in part to producers
like Zhou.
A mass-produced qipao, sometimes seen at weddings or
other formal occasions, can be bought today for as little as 100 yuan ($16).
But Zhou, 59, has found a market for higher-end
designs among well-heeled Chinese fashionistas.
Zhou previously dealt in lower-priced qipao before
founding
Hanart in 1998 in partnership with Chu Hongsheng, a legendary qipao
designer who fitted Chinese film actresses and the wives and daughters of
Shanghai mafia bosses. Chu died in 2017 at the age of 99.
Cultural value
“(Low price) isn’t the true essence of the qipao,” said Zhou, who feels
that such an iconic Chinese fashion staple requires more luxurious materials,
bolder designs and hand-crafted precision, which inevitably push prices up.
Zhou displayed
these at a Shanghai show late last year which featured “modern, altered qipao”
designs combining the classic Mandarin collar and body-hugging fit with less
traditional elements such as lace, fringes, velvet, sequins and rich
embroidery.
“We want more
young people to wear qipao,” Zhou said of his design re-boot.
To Yang Zhenzhen, who owns a Shanghai qipao shop and
is an online influencer of the dress style, cracking the youth market is
essential to keeping the tradition alive.
Her shop targets
buyers aged 25-45 with qipao starting at around $600.
“Young people bring new life and energy” to the
qipao, said Yang, 28, who has been smitten with the dress since childhood and
began collecting them five years ago.
“If young people
don’t wear them, then by the time they grow old there won’t be anyone wearing
them,” she said.
Yang admitted
that youth acceptance suffers from a stereotype that qipao are for elderly
women, or the belief that pop culture uses the dress to objectify Chinese
women.
“These are deep
misconceptions... so I want to popularize it as best I can and let people know
the real meaning of qipao,” she said.
That includes
the dress’s role in breaking down gender norms for women during the 1920s. The
sense of freedom associated with that will never go out of style, she adds.
For Zhou,
selling qipao is about perpetuating an element of
China’s intangible cultural
heritage.
“We are small,
but we are carrying on a piece of culture,” he said.
“That’s where our
biggest value is.”
Read more Fashion
.jpg)
.jpg)
