Liu Wenyue: Wearing a horse-faced skirt
2024-08-17
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This article was published in "Outlook Weekly" (Issue 17, 2024, Issue 914 in total), with the original title "Liu Wenyue: Going Out of the Circle with a Horse-face Skirt".
Text: Jian Hongni, reporter of Oriental Outlook Weekly, Zhao Wenya, intern, and Qin Liudi, editor
"In the past, we said that women dress to please others, but now women dress to please themselves. The fact that traditional Chinese style can shine so brightly today just shows that contemporary women are becoming more and more independent and pay more and more attention to their own experience."
In March 2024, Liu Wenyue was photographed wearing a horse-faced skirt designed by herself
Lizhuang Village, Sandu Township, Songyang, Lishui, Zhejiang, is a quaint village. It is filled with Liu Wenyue's growing memories and is also where her dream began. "When I was a child, I liked to draw, and my mother bought me a lot of drawing books and colored pencils. Not only that, all the white walls of my grandmother's house were filled with my drawings, and she never stopped me, let alone blamed me." Liu Wenyue told "Outlook Weekly", "Perhaps it was my mother's encouragement and my grandmother's tolerance that made the seeds of my drawing finally turn into Hanfu design."
Liu Wenyue was born in 2000 and has been engaged in Hanfu design for 4 years. In April this year, a video went viral. In the video, Liu Wenyue's grandmother wore a xiapei wedding dress designed by her, which attracted netizens to exclaim that "she looked like an old lady from "Dream of Red Mansions". It took Liu Wenyue three or four months to design and make this wedding dress for her grandmother.
Not only did the grandmother become popular, Liu Wenyue also appeared in fashion magazines wearing her own horse-faced skirt. She designs more than 100 horse-faced skirts every year, and some popular ones can sell nearly 20,000 pairs. "For contemporary women, the horse-faced skirt is not only a fashion, a return to the traditional Chinese aesthetic, but also a bold expression from the inside out," said Liu Wenyue.
From wearing Hanfu to painting Hanfu
Liu Wenyue has been interested in clothing since she was a child, as she has loved painting since her childhood. Her mother worked in a garment factory, so she has long been interested in clothing. "When I was a child, I went to her factory with my mother to play, watching her operate the sewing machine, and I thought that making clothes was fun. When I was in school, I saw the costumes of 56 ethnic groups in the textbooks, and I would study them very carefully," Liu Wenyue said.
When she was in high school, Liu Wenyue used the money she had saved for a long time to buy her first set of Hanfu. Her major in college was not fashion design, but like many young girls, she liked to wear Hanfu.
Liu Wenyue's first design was done on her mobile phone, with the goal of earning a set of free Hanfu. "For students, a set of Hanfu is not cheap. I saw someone submitting their designs online and selling them. After the merchant adopted them, they would send back a set of Hanfu products. I was very tempted." In this way, Liu Wenyue got started in Hanfu design.
The first design was sold for 300 yuan. Although the money was not much, it was a great encouragement to Liu Wenyue. Most importantly, the buyer encouraged her to continue drawing. At the suggestion of the first buyer, Liu Wenyue bought a computer and started drawing designs.
In 2019, Liu Wenyue opened a Hanfu studio with a partner who is also a Hanfu enthusiast. At first, her family didn't quite understand, "They thought this profession was too niche, and that the Hanfu community was too small, and that they might not be able to achieve much."
However, traditional Chinese clothing, including the horse-faced skirt, has become popular not only in China, but also in overseas markets: "Our studio has received many overseas orders, including from the United States, Canada, Australia... Some are from overseas Chinese and international students, and the other part is from many foreigners who love Hanfu culture."
After graduating from university, Liu Wenyue moved her studio back to her hometown in Songyang. "My grandmother and I have a deep relationship. After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother often looked lonely and dazed, so I decided to stay with her." The attic where her grandmother stored her miscellaneous items became Liu Wenyue's studio. She designed the decoration style herself and even made some of the soft furnishings herself.
Once, Liu Wenyue designed a traditional Chinese wedding dress for a wedding dress shop. On the day she received the finished product, she excitedly showed it to her grandmother. "It's so beautiful!" Grandma looked at the wedding dress over and over again. At that moment, the careful Liu Wenyue noticed that there was a trace of sadness in her grandmother's eyes. It turned out that when grandma got married, she simply tied a red string on her head, let alone wore a wedding dress. Which girl doesn't want to get married beautifully? Even if she is 80 years old, she can be the most beautiful "bride". So Liu Wenyue began to design traditional Chinese wedding dresses for her grandmother.
After her grandmother became famous, Liu Wenyue felt that the biggest gain was seeing her grandmother's changes. "Not only did my grandmother accept the Hanfu I designed and fall in love with it, but she also became more willing to show herself in front of the camera."
Most of Liu Wenyue's colleagues and fans are young women between 20 and 30 years old. "In the past, we said that women dress up to please others, but now women dress up to please themselves. The fact that traditional Chinese style can shine today just shows that contemporary women are becoming more and more independent and pay more and more attention to their own experience." Liu Wenyue said that in her grandmother, she saw that women can have infinite power and infinite possibilities in their growth.
From wearing Hanfu to designing Hanfu, with the change of her identity, Liu Wenyue's understanding of Hanfu has also changed - at first she only paid attention to whether it was beautiful or not, but now she also pays attention to its practicality and the culture behind it.
"As a Hanfu enthusiast, I initially thought it was just a kind of beautiful clothing for taking pictures. Wearing it would make me look like a fairy. I didn't do in-depth research on each style, the history behind each Hanfu, and the meaning of the pattern elements. But after becoming a designer, I not only consider these, but also the feasibility in modern life and the comfort of wearing," said Liu Wenyue.
Everything is inspiration
Blue and white porcelain horse-faced skirt, fireworks horse-faced skirt, herbal horse-faced skirt, dragon year horse-faced skirt... Liu Wenyue's studio is filled with all kinds of horse-faced skirts. Liu Wenyue revealed that many designs of horse-faced skirts actually draw nourishment from traditional Chinese culture. She took the horse-faced skirt, the main product of her studio, as an example, "blue and white porcelain, mother-of-pearl, Chinese herbal medicine, these series are inspired by Chinese intangible cultural heritage."
There is a mother-of-pearl pattern horse-faced skirt, which is inspired by the traditional mother-of-pearl craftsmanship - exquisite shell carvings and black lacquer, which emit colorful light under the light. Liu Wenyue used colorful silver lines and flower, bird, mountain and stone patterns, plus window lattice frame design, to simulate the mother-of-pearl box. After the fabric is developed, it will also emit colorful light under the light.
Liu Wenyue has three cats, and her collection includes two cat-themed horse-faced skirts. The cats wear jeweled crowns and lie on a pile of sparkling jewels.
Liu Wenyue gradually gained fame and reputation in the industry due to her novel and unique designs. Liu Wenyue absorbs nutrition and "charges" herself through various means, such as reading books, surfing the Internet, and visiting museums. In her eyes, the horse-faced skirt is like a book or a scroll, conveying the brilliant Chinese culture. "Some cultural relics, including Song Dynasty flower and bird paintings, and even buildings, can be my source of inspiration." One of the horse-faced skirts designed by Liu Wenyue was inspired by the caisson on the top of a Chinese wooden building.
In 2023, Liu Wenyue paid attention to the Chinese cultural relics lost overseas. She found the list of Chinese cultural relics in overseas museums and carefully checked it. She selected the elements of dragon-patterned glazed tiles and designed a corresponding style of horse-faced skirt in line with the theme of the Year of the Dragon.
The news of Japan's nuclear wastewater discharge also made Liu Wenyue pay attention to the protection of marine life. Under her ingenious pen, non-traditional patterns such as swimming fish and jellyfish became elements of the horse-faced skirt. The fabric of the swimming fish was repeatedly sampled seven or eight times, and finally the effect of fish swimming in the water and changing colors was achieved.
Earlier this year, Liu Wenyue launched a spring series of horse-faced skirts. A fan left her a message: "I was feeling very low today. I was immediately encouraged when I saw the video of your new product."
A horse-faced skirt can actually heal people? Liu Wenyue shared the story behind this series. "One day, I was wandering in the park looking for inspiration, and suddenly I noticed some small wild flowers on the roadside. In the past, when we chose flowers as clothing patterns, they were usually gorgeous and conspicuous types such as peonies and lotus flowers, but in fact these small flowers are also very beautiful." In the end, Liu Wenyue chose Veronica and Pansy as design elements, and the result was fresh and elegant, and had a sense of power.
"Many people would use more gorgeous flowers as spring designs, but I think that even the smallest characters have their own spring." This delicate design and expression immediately touched the hearts of fans. This series is also Liu Wenyue's tribute to ordinary women, including grandma and mother. "Veronica and pansy grow unobtrusively on the roadside, but their vitality is very strong. What I want to express is that no matter how small you are, you can still be the protagonist of life."
As the business grows, Liu Wenyue has moved her studio from her hometown of Lishui to Xucun Town in Jiaxing, because it is closer to the fabric production area. But she still has a close relationship with her grandmother and mother. "They are women who have a great influence on me. Although they have ordinary jobs, their tolerance has provided space for my dreams. The sense of strength they have makes me feel that their lives are not ordinary."
Make national style more everyday
In a fashion magazine, Liu Wenyue, as a Hanfu designer, wore a blue and white porcelain horse-faced skirt of her own design and rode a skateboard.
In recent years, Hanfu has been welcomed by young people. Whether in parks, scenic spots or on the streets, more and more people wear Hanfu as daily wear.
Liu Wenyue believes that the closer traditional clothing is to current life, the more it can be passed down: "I hope to make some Hanfu that is more convenient for people to wear in daily life. This is why I chose the horse-faced skirt as the main product. It is easy to match and is not restricted by age or occasion."
Liu Wenyue thinks that the popularity of the horse-faced skirt is inevitable. "Because compared to other traditional Hanfu with wide robes and large sleeves, the horse-faced skirt is more suitable for today's life. You can think of it as a long skirt with traditional Chinese elements added in."
After becoming a designer, Liu Wenyue pays attention to colors, fabrics, and patterns, but also pays attention to the combination of traditional clothing and modern life. "Most of the Hanfu I design are still traditional, but I will incorporate modern people's aesthetics and the younger generation's understanding of Hanfu."
In her opinion, traditional Hanfu designs tend to be simple and dignified, and most of the colors are relatively calm, but now with better technology and dyes, more vivid and beautiful colors can be made, and there are more crafts to choose from. Liu Wenyue usually reads netizens' comments online and also designs elements suggested by netizens into her works.
In terms of patterns, Liu Wenyue believes that there can be more bold innovations, such as adding patterns of marine life and fireworks, which have both ancient beauty and are in line with the aesthetic taste of young people today.
Liu Wenyue's Hanfu studio integrates sample design, product processing, filming and promotion, live broadcast sales and other links. The words "Made in China" are woven on each piece of fabric of the horse-faced skirt she designed. In her opinion, the horse-faced skirt was originally created in China, and its design and production were also in China, so it is naturally "Made in China".
The horse-faced skirt has awakened the public's attention to traditional Chinese culture. The popularity of the national style is due to the cultural confidence of young people. "This is not only a retro aesthetic, but also the cultural heritage is being paid attention to by more and more people," said Liu Wenyue.
According to data jointly released by the China National Garment Association and other institutions, by 2023, the market size of my country's modern Hanfu industry will reach about 13 billion yuan, with about 14.48 million consumers. As the Hanfu industry grows, more and more young women want to join the industry. In Liu Wenyue's view, "If you have a dream, you must move forward. Even if you are facing a puddle of mud, you can make it into a beautiful sculpture. This is an opportunity for women today, and it is also a way for each of us to realize our self-worth."
Source: Oriental Outlook Weekly
