Let the World Try Us for Size

Six months earlier, in mid-July 2003, a group of own-brand fashion designers had come together at the Benchmark Learning Center in Acer's Aspire Park in Taoyuan County. Persuading so many designers to put aside their daily work and gather together for two whole days was an achievement in itself. And this was not a getaway for rest and relaxation, but a study program. They came not only to be taught how to re-understand the beauty of Taiwanese culture, but also to brainstorm with designers from very different industries, in the hope of creating new products.

Pun Dai-lee, chairwoman of the Taipei Fashion Designer Association and organizer of "fashion talent innovation classes," says: "One team designed a wireless IT device shaped like a powder compact, to be used with the latest fashions. Another designed toothbrushes for a variety of different-flavored toothpastes. We were very impressed with how these innovative ideas sought to combine fashion with basic daily needs. In fact, the nature of the final product itself was unimportant, because our focus was on whether participating in the process helped designers break with looking only at the field of clothing fashion. The aim was to facilitate cooperation with designers from other industries and stimulate diversity of innovation."

Says Pun: "Another important objective was to identify uniquely Taiwanese fashions. Because the new generation of clothing designers almost all learned their craft overseas, they are always guided by overseas fashion trends, tending to overlook the fact that clothing is a basic need of everyday life and should therefore reflect local experience and culture." Pun has noticed that many designers follow photographs from international fashion shows, copying the styles and colors of foreign fashions but with little understanding of what lies behind those design ideas. They have no clear idea of what they are selling or of who their customers are.

"We wanted designers to understand global market trends, but more importantly to incorporate key elements of local culture in their designs. The idea was to start with the acceptance of Taiwanese fashions by local consumers and then expand into international markets." This was, in essence, the guiding principle laid down by the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) in its program for the cultural and creative industries, which is designed to combine artistic creation and business opportunities.

In September, Pun Dai-lee led a delegation of designers to a commercial exhibition in France. It was hoped that by focusing on global events and opportunities the designers would be encouraged to consider how best to develop fashion styles in Taiwanese clothing and take the first step into more international markets. There they met Chien Yu-feng, a Taiwanese designer who was displaying his works at the exhibition. Chien suggested it would be a good idea to establish a permanent Taiwan stall at the exhibition, as a forum to display the work of Taiwan's best designers to global fashion buyers. Designers could subsequently put on their own shows at the exhibition, to attract orders from buyers and thus make a true entry onto the international fashion stage.

Chien Yu-feng suggests: "Success takes financial backing and patience. One might have to participate in the exhibition for two to three years, i.e. four to six seasons, before there is any positive response. Renting a stall for one season costs around NT$500,000, which is the sort of expense most new designers simply cannot afford.

After taking part in the delegation, designer Carole Chang was excited at the prospect of being able to display her work in France: "In Paris I saw the most realistic and honest face of the international clothing market, because only when you receive buyers' orders can you truly say that your work has been accepted onto the world market." She complains that department stores in Taiwan fail to research market trends or to accept any obligation to develop the consumer market, so that success or failure depends entirely on the designer. This often leads to failure, because most designers lack an in-depth understanding of the market.

"If local department stores changed their approach, with each establishing a position based on its own distinctive character, purchasing works from different designers, then designers who did not receive orders would know their designs were unpopular and could make changes, while popular designers would no longer face financial difficulties and so could devote more of their time to design work."

Renowned local designer Lu Fong-chih believes that the government has to take some of the responsibility for developing design talent, by providing assistance to designers at different stages of their creative careers: "If we want to make it internationally, we should be aiming for the high table of global fashion. Last year mainland China managed to put on a show at the Louvre in Paris, whereas we are still showing at commercial exhibitions." He notes that although the top-class fashion show did not attract a great many international orders, the international media were largely positive about the show, seeing it as an example of future Chinese fashion. It was largely viewed as a learning opportunity for Chinese designers, and an important landmark for their next generation of international designers. In light of such developments, Taiwan needs to move more quickly in the same direction.

Pun Dai-lee hopes that one result of the recent event will be to provide the government with information to facilitate the planning of a program for long-term cultivation of design talent. She suggests the government should not only consider establishing permanent stalls at French exhibitions, but also seek the promotional assistance of a public relations company familiar with the business of international fashion buyers. Alternatively, a district could be established in Taiwan, linking together industries and associations involved in the fashion field, so that local and overseas design buyers can more easily locate business opportunities in Taiwan.

Special lighting illuminated the stage as a burst of Chinese music kicked off the Taiwan Fashion Party. Before the official start of the show, CCA minister Tchen Yu-chiou said a few words. She was dressed in clothes developed by local designers: a suit combining the bright colors and patterns of a temple fair, that showed her radiant vigor. Tchen thanked those in attendance for braving the cold winter night and discussed the spirit behind the event and future prospects. Next to speak was Vice President Annette Lu, dressed in a "water-lily" outfit made by a famous local designer. Her eye-catching attire was just as impressive as some of the items seen in the following fashion show.

After the talking was over, the fashion show itself got under way, with impromptu performances from local calligraphers, as fashions from ten designers were paraded in front of an audience full of anticipation.

The first stage of the show involved six designers, four clothing companies, and three textile manufacturers, working together to develop 15 sets of clothes, comprising 150 different items. Taiwanese culture was a key element in the material design, and emphasis was placed on color, texture, variety, pattern design and tailoring skills. The models wore spring-summer fashions that were light, short and revealing, with dramatic make-up rounding off the image.

As part of this multicolored aesthetic feast, a dazzling array of design works passed before the eyes of the audience, to be met by wave after wave of appreciative applause. For example, Lu Fong-chih's designs transcended time, space and national boundaries, transforming the sawtooth motif used by the Yami Aboriginals into three-dimensional material as edging for collars or the side seams of trousers. With his non-symmetrical tailoring, complex, multi-layered combinations of garments and the use of colors such as black, cream and red, Lu has created a style that incorporates both nostalgia and the future, a blend that introduces the audience to a world of surrealism.

Another crowd-pleaser was Carole Chang's combination of strong Oriental colors with a seductive brash style. Chang has long taken the well-known words of renowned painter Hung Tung as a source of creative inspiration: "Painting should be frank and straightforward." To this end she uses the chrysanthemums and peonies of Chinese paintings and her own geometric flower designs as motifs, combining the colors of ink painting with famille rose and neon, in an attempt to express a sense of poetic rhythm in her latest spring and summer fashions.

The second stage brought together the work of the 20 Taiwanese designers that visited Paris, each of them displaying two sets of clothes. Each conveyed a powerful sense of individual style: folk custom, pure Orientalism, bold avant garde or a combination of Eastern and Western characteristics, a blending of fantasy and experimentalism. Such flirtatious expressionism highlighted these designers' boundless creativity.

The brilliant visual style of Kang Yen-ling utilizes black and white to display the strength and beauty of Chinese martial arts and dance; Pun Dai-Lee uses the mysterious colors once unique to nobility or the "Eight Generals" and combines them with such ideas as stitching different fabrics or colors together in one piece, matching tops to trousers or skirts of different styles, creating a layered effect, and adding accessories such as a scarf or shawl. This creates clothing styles that embody a national sense of color but are still infused with modernity. Jane Hu uses geometric shapes, ethnic symbols and embroidery as her central design motifs, playing with ideas of destruction and reconstruction and facilitating a natural coming together of Eastern and Western elements.

The audience at the Fashion Party were treated to much more than a high-quality fashion show. The use of multimedia, calligraphers, fireworks, acrobatics, singing, U-Theater's drumming performance and a show from DJ Liu Hsuen produced an event infused with both Eastern and Western styles, mixing traditional and modern elements. It proved a unique spectacle that impressed everyone with its depth and diversity.

As the performances drew to a close at 10 p.m., the audience left feeling warm inside despite the cold winter night. The spring and summer fashions on display that evening will be available next season at counters designated to the individual designers. Those taking part hoped for a good performance on the night, but more importantly that the event will help them attract more market attention. They are now waiting for a positive response from local people, whilst looking forward to the day when Taiwanese style will start playing a more global role, adding luster to the international fashion industry.