Greater Donghua Fashion Week｜Opening Ceremony of International Fashion Forum of 2016 Shanghai International Fashion Cultural Festival & Greater Donghua Fashion Week held at DHU
On April 19, the opening ceremony of the International Fashion Forum of 2016 Shanghai International Fashion Cultural Festival & Greater Donghua Fashion Week was held at the Yan’an Road campus of DHU. As a branding item of Shanghai International Fashion Cultural Festival, this year the event is themed with “Silk Road·Honor of Ideal,” combining “academic forum, professional exhibition, design competition, fashion show and creative bazaar” while introducing the element of “One Belt, One Road.” By releasing creative works of new designers, holding the 1st International Student Fashion Design Competition, inviting Chen Wen, the Winner of the 19th China Fashion Design Top Prize “Jinding Award,” to hold an art exhibition, the event will dedicate itself to promoting the talent cultivation in fashion and innovation.
The General Secretary of Party Zhu Min, Vice President Liu Chunhong and Yuan Menghong, the General Branch Secretary of Party of the College of Textile attended the opening ceremony. Other attendees include Chen Yuehua, Vice Director of Shanghai Culture and Creative Industry Promotion Leading Group Office, Liu Chunjing, Vice Chairman of Changning District CPPCC, Weng Huajian, Deputy Head of Changning District, Zhang Qinghui, Vice President & Secretary General of the China Fashion Association, Zhu Yong, CEO of Shanghai Textile Holding (Group) Corporation, Prof. Richard K. Mibey, President of Moi University, Pema Tsering, Vice President of Tibet University, etc.
First of all, Zhu Min delivered a speech. He indicated that Donghua University has devoted itself to the national cultural industry development as well as Shanghai’s construction of International Fashion Capital, i.e. implementing the construction of Greater Donghua Cluster Area of Fashion and Creative Industry, launching Shanghai Fashion Capital Promotion Center, building up a new pattern of disciplines characterized by “One Body, Two Wings,” establishing the Shanghai International College of Fashion and Innovation, boosting the R&D of Shanghai fashion trends and cloud public service platform of fashion, preparing to build the Fashion Scientific and Technological Innovation Center and strongly advancing the construction of fashion heights and creative disciplines. As a response to the state strategy of “One Belt, One Road” and themed with “Silk Road·Honor of Ideal,” the International Fashion Forum & Greater Donghua Fashion Week has invited a great many institutions, brand organizations, colleges and universities from countries involved with the route of “One Belt, One Road.” “DHU will continue to adhere to its mission to focus on talent cultivation and scientific research, striving to serve the society and promote the cultural heritage and innovation;” Zhu Min highlighted, “based on the construction of Greater Donghua Cluster Area of Fashion and Creative Industry, DHU will expand the construction to Hongqiao Cluster Area of Fashion and Creative Industry, aiming to make unremitting efforts for the construction of Shanghai International Fashion Capital.”
Integration of Silk Road Culture:
Works Designed by Teachers and Students from Tibet University, Kenya’s Textiles Make Their Fashion Week Debut
Known as “the Roof of the World” and an “important participant” of the South Silk Road and Tea Horse Road in the history, Tibet not only adjoins the province within the strategy of “One Belt, One Road,” but also borders India and Nepal, constituting a major gateway for China’s exchange with South Asian countries. During the fashion week, experts from Tibet University are invited to join the academic forum to discuss the establishment and development of fashion metropolis on the new Silk Road with researchers in the field of fashion industry, culture and education abroad and home. Besides, the works designed by teachers and students from the Fashion Design Department of Tibet University will be released at the opening ceremony performance in the evening of April 19. Furthermore, teachers and students as well as citizens may visit the Shanghai Museum of Textile and Costume at the Yan’an Road campus to appreciate the images of Tibetan clothing, thus gaining a closer understanding of Tibetan culture.
Apart from the debut of design works from Tibet University, what’s worth mentioning is the “Maritime Silk Road in Africa: Kenya Textile Art Exhibition.” The exhibition mainly displays modern Kenyan textiles, which present unique regional cultural characteristics and enable people to feel the endless charm of the folk customs in Kenya in an “intimate” way. Owing to the 20+20 Cooperation Plan for Chinese and African Institutions of Higher Education, Donghua University and Moi University have established a cooperative relationship, under which the world first Confucius Institute characterized by textile and costume education was established at Moi University in 2015. The Kenya Textile Art Exhibition witnesses another contribution made by Donghua University to the exchange and cooperation in Sino-Africa culture and education.
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Memory of City Clothing
Photos Represent the History of Fashion Trends and Depict the “Dressing” Story of Chinese People
City Memory means a historical record of preservation value during the formation, change and development of a city. From this week, the City Memory-themed “Exhibition of Fashion Timeline in New China” held in the Shanghai Museum of Textile and Costume will trace the city memory in the change of clothing and depict the “dressing” story of Chinese people. Taking Shanghai as the point, coastal cities as the line, inland cities as the radiation, period from the founding of PRC up to now as the time axis and the individual growth process as the scene axis, the exhibition presents the clothing life from 30 cities that have been selected by 30 fashion experts. The exhibited 210 works stood out from more than 3000 entries, showing the evolution of Shanghai-style clothing trends in cities for the last 60 years since the founding of PRC.
Joint Promotion of Talent Cultivation in Fashion and Creative Industry:
New Shanghai-style Designers Graduated from DHU
Wang Lengyu is one of the graduating students from Fashion • Art Design Institute of DHU. During the 2016 AW Shanghai Fashion Week, Wang Lengyu and her 23 partners made their debut on the 800 Show. This time, they will also make their appearance at the Greater Donghua Fashion Week and are expected to attend the Graduate Fashion Week in London on behalf of Chinese graduates through the inspection of stages of Shanghai Fashion Week and Greater Donghua Fashion Week. It is told that the 24 members of the team of new designers all come from the graduating class of the Fashion • Art Design Institute. The Institute has carried out the comprehensive undergraduate educational reform and initiated the “Donghua New Designers” support plan since 2015 based on its objective of cultivating comprehensive and innovative design talents. The team’s appearances at the two fashion weeks are precisely the preliminary embodiment of the achievement of the Institute’s talent cultivation.
In addition to the educational reform within the campus, DHU also attaches great importance to role of alumni resources. The fashion week has invited the famous alumnus Chen Wen, the Winner of the China Fashion Design Top Prize “Jinding Award,” to hold the “As Squarely as A Circle: Chen Wen Art And Fashion Solo Exhibition,” presenting the creative combination of art and jean through both static and dynamic show, in which the designer renders the originally rugged jeans wear to glow with unique artistic glamour.
The cultivation of creative talents is not only oriented at Chinese students, international students will also benefit from the plan. The 1st International Student Fashion Design Competition delivers the “fresh” educational signal. In the final, international students from 26 foreign countries studying in 20 domestic universities will join the exchange of fashion and innovation among different nationalities, peoples and regional cultures through exhibition of 34 groups of fashion design works.
