The “CUORI” 2nd International Student Fashion Design Competition, jointlysponsored by the China Association for International Education (CAFSA) and Donghua University (DHU),was held in DHU on April 26. Liu Jinghui, President of CAFSA, Liu Chunhong, Vice President of DHU, Sisamay Luangchandavong, Consul-General of Laos in Shanghai, Leonardo Olivera, Consul-General of Uruguay in Shanghai, Ranoppun Kapittal, Deputy Consul-General of Thailand in Shanghai, and Radityo J. A. Panjaitan, Deputy Consul-General of Indonesia in Shanghai attended the finals.
Liu Chunhong first extended a warm welcome to the guests. She said that the competition provides a good platform for international students to show their creative ideas in fashion design. Different cultural elements are integrated into fashion design, which will further boost people-to-people connectivity between the countries along the routes of the Belt and Road. Liu Jinghui said that with the deepening of reforms and opening up, the number of international students coming to China has grown rapidly. Themed with “Connecting Silk Roads and People,” this competition focuses on the common vision of the Belt and Road to set up a communication bridge between international students, which is of great significance to further improve the training quality for international students.
Altogether 35 sets of fashion works designed by international students from 21 countries in 18 universities entered the final competition. Eventually, Bangladeshi student Mihansi from Jiangnan University won the Gold Award for the work Fusion of Culture. Pakistani student Jasmine from Wuhan Textile University, and Kazakh students Tajis and Annali from DHU won the Silver Award. 10 students including Mongolian student Pu Xiaomin from Tianjin Polytechnic University and Vietnamese student Wu Huangjiang from Shanghai University of International Business and Economics won the bronze award.
It’s the second time for Kazakh student Tajis from DHU, one of the winners of Silver Award, to participate in the International Student Fashion Design Competition. She interpreted the unique felt material of Kazakhstan in a modernized way in her work Toughness and Fragility that features the integration of elegant and classical style with avant-garde style. This June she will graduate and when it comes to the future, she said, “Shanghai is an international metropolis with rapid development and many opportunities. I like it here very much, and I will stay and work here after graduation.”
In China, there are many international students from countries along the routes of the Belt and Road like Tajis. To this, it’s a problem facing educators of international students concerning how to give full play to the advantages of the university to improve the training quality of international students. Wu Xiaojun, Deputy Dean of the International Cultural Exchange School of DHU, said: “In the process of international student education and training, we have organized the International Student Cultural Festival and established a practice base for international students to give full play to our professional advantages, so as to continuously improve the innovative practice and professional abilities of international students and cultivate more cultural exchange envoys equipped with knowledge of Chinese culture and global vision.
