National and folk styles have been on the ascendant in the fashion world in partly to the film The Last Emperor, has claimed an important place among them.

In line with this trend, more and more fashion designers in Taiwan have been trying to find a place of their own by turning the eyes of the world to clothing with a Chinese look.

During the Taipei International Textile Week, sponsored last November by the Taiwan Textile Federation, two seminars were held on the subject of Chinese design and new creations were presented by nineteen fashion designers. In addition, the theme of the third annual Awards for New Talent in Fashion Design, held by the federation at the same time, was "A Contemporary Chinese Suite: A New Look for the Chinese Spirit."

Why has the Textile Federation, dedicated to assisting domestic textile makers expand their export markets, become so enamored of China lately?

"If we just keep spinning around in Western designs, we'll never be able to stand out from the shadow of others and compare favorably with them. The only way we can achieve designs of our own that are uniquely creative is to pursue themes with a Chinese spirit," says Hsu Li-ling, director of the Fashion Designers Association of the Republic of China. And that requires that people in the field make concorted efforts so as to draw more attention to Chinese design and earn it a place on the world fashion scene.

Japan is a good example. About five or six years ago a group of Japanese designers, sedulously cultivated by the government, exhibited a series of traditional Japanese printed dresses at Paris. The result was a huge success that pushed Japanese fashion designers to the front and center of the international stage at a single stroke.

Judged by world fashion trends, the present is a rare and opportune moment for Chinese couture to step into the limelight. The Oscar-winning film The Last Emperor, screened around the globe, stirred up worldwide enthusiasm for things Chinese. That and the rapid growth of the Asian economy, mainland China's moves toward economic liberalization, and even the Tienanmen massacre of June 4th have focused the eyes of the world on China. The China look has come to occupy an important place in the folk-style movement in fashion, and many noted Western designers have incorporated Chinese tassels, buttons, and patterns in their creations.

The global China enthusiasm has given domestic designers a green light to go ahead, and the Taiwan Textile Federation hopes that the domestic garment industry, which has fallen on hard times lately, will seize this opportunity to strike out on a new path.

The efforts of the federation over the past two years have not only encouraged many established designers to infuse a Chinese feel in their collections but have influenced the thinking of students specially trained in fashion design.

Shen Po-hung, who graduated from design school just last year, won first prize among ten designers from nine countries in the First Asian Design Competition, with his theme Of "China Sea." The joint evaluation of him by the judges was "extremely creative."

In fact, a number of designers on Taiwan adopted traditional Chinese themes in their collections quite a while ago and made use of Chinese-style patterns, cuts, and colors.

In recent years, though, thanks to the efforts of the Taiwan Textile Federation and the Fashion Designers Association of the Republic of China, the gist of traditional art and culture has truly been fused into contemporary creative design. In more concrete terms, that means that elaborate and complicated Chinese apparel has been simplified to express the appeal of the Chinese spirit more directly.

Domestic garment manufacturers are not large in scale, however, and before setting their sights on the international market they must first to be able to stand up on their own two feet on Taiwan. Judged by the degree of consumer acceptance it is receiving, apparel with a clear Chinese look is gaining the upper hand. M.S. Ts'ai, president of the Long Light Corporation, says that her collection all starts from the cheongsam, or what is generally called the improved version of the cheongsam, and utilizes various prints and fabrics with contemporary cuts to expand the occasions on which it can be worn. It is the most representative Chinese dress bar none for appearances at international conferences or formal banquets.

Another feature of the improved cheongsam that makes it appealing is its "user-friendliness." The Oriental figure is rather petite and even a bit of flab looks bad. But the cheongsam is a one-piece outfit, with no cut in the middle. It covers up defects in a woman's figure and gives a visual effect of height and length," Ts'ai says, adding that her apparel is also a favorite with Japanese customers, who have a similar physique.

Despite the growing popularity of their collections, though, domestic designers face many obstacles to achieving international success. One problem is they often wear too many hats. Serving simultaneously as company president, agent, and manager diminishes a designer's ability to come up with truly outstanding ideas and inspiration.

Two other serious problems are the island-wide labor shortage and a lack of suitable fabrics. The labor shortage has been particularly damaging to the couture business, which requires highly skilled workers for sewing and cutting.

As for fabric, most domestic suppliers lack the resources to perform R&D of their own and simply go along with the trends in other countries. Domestically made fabrics are often inferior to imported fabrics in color, purity, and texture, and as consumers become increasingly choosy and import tariffs are lowered, imported fabrics have become the only choice for top designers.

In addition to fabric, most local designers also source their lace, buttons, and other fashion accessories from New York and Paris, halfway around the world.

"Now is the time for Chinese couture to move onto the international market," the Taiwan Textile Federation states, but only when the hard work that has been devoted to raising the quality of domestic design was been extended to related areas of the industry can Chinese apparel truly stand in the forefront of the fashion scene.

[Picture Caption]

Soft, light chiffon is one of the main fabrics used in expressing a Chinese style. (photo by Vincent Chang)

Traditional slanted and vertical buttoning methods are widely used in Chinese fashion design.

Shen Po-hung won top honors in the First Asian Design Competition with his China Sea series, which features layered collars, rounded shoulders, and spiral cuffs. (photo courtesy of the Taiwan Textile Federation)

The Taiwan Textile Federation held two seminars to encourage designers to set out from China in exploring different creative ideas. (photo by Vincent Chang)

The appropriate use of exquisite embroidery in garment design is another expression of the China look. (photo courtesy of Carson Huang)

The lovely sight of these beauty pageant contestants in cheongsams certainly contributed toward promoting Chinese dress.

Patterns from Chinese architecture often appear on designs for the improved cheongsam.