Ashima aesthetics and Yunnan Yi cultural heritage as a fashion collection: Interweaving traditional Chinese minority costume with everyday wardrobes in contemporary fashion design

Abstract

This thesis is an artistic investigation of a Chinese minority culture Yi in the context of contemporary fashion design. The objective of the thesis is to explore the narratives of cultural heritage in relation to popular culture, tourist looks, and everyday Western clothing through the fashion design practice. Both western and Chinese scholars and designers have widely explored Chinese costumes. However, significant minority cultures of China have gained less attention. By studying personal photo albums and other tourist photos in Yunnan, this thesis work investigates the combination of ethnic elements and Western wardrobe, presenting the results as a fashion collection.

The thesis consists of two parts, the theoretical and the production component. The theoretical component reviews literature and introduces the conceptual and visual research behind the collection. The literature review examines how the traditional dress and contemporary fashion interact, the cultural history of the Yunnan Yi minority, and the challenges of the contemporary minority costume in the Chinese fashion industry. The conceptual and visual research chapters introduce the traditional and contemporary costumes of the Yunnan Yi minority and how this culture is interpreted in the 1960s film ‘Ashima,’ which has influenced tourism in the area.

The main contribution of the thesis is the design practice component, thus, the fashion collection. The fashion collection explores the dialogue between the traditional costume and everyday wardrobes. Through visual research, developing textile, draping experiments, sketching, and prototyping, the thesis presents the autoethnographic investigation of the design and making process. The design process was deeply affected by the chosen production methods, which were guided by the personal skills of printing and the possibility to work at the Santoni knitting factory in Shanghai. It also reflects on the technical difficulties encountered in the knitting and printing production process. The analysis of each look clarifies the evolution of design and the close relationship between inspiration and the conceptual background.

The outcome of the project consists of a thesis and a womenswear collection that includes seven looks, focusing on knits and prints. Through the personal and unique design process, the visual, structural and textural elements of the costume of minority culture extracted, synthesized with Western garment typologies and reinterpreted in the context of contemporary fashion practice. The thesis work is dedicated to arousing interest in the cultural heritage of the minority and contributing to the polycentricity of fashion design.