Summerhall, Edinburgh

As part of the Edinburgh Arts Festival, Fashion Revolution China is exhibiting at the amazing Summerhall building, until the end of September. Although edited from the original show there are some new pieces never before seen. The show is located in the old Dissection Hall and also features as part of the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival.

Images from the exhibition itself.

Here are a selection of images from the show. These include the 1930's Qipao's, military and utilitarian uniforms and the work of the contemporary designers. There are also shots from the short films. The beautiful hand crafted 2007 Guo Pei Catwalk show kindly supplied with consent to show from Guo Pei and Jack and the historical narrative expertly crafted by Dominic Turcotte in Beijing. Also note the 1950's pattern cutting books which show how to re-cut garments from old.

Curators Talk Re-Visited

This Thursday sees the second curators talk. Interestingly there has already been a number of talks to a variety of different subject areas. These include Fashion Studies, Textiles, Arts Events and Management, Costume and Modelmaking. All have had a slightly different perspective.  Costume and Textiles were interested in the hand crafted quality of the fabrics, whilst Model makers were interesting in the 'meaning of objects' and therefore a cultural resonance of the pieces. Fashion Studies students engaged in a written review as part of a unit while Arts Events and Management were interested in the selection, curation and narrative of the exhibition. The questions and interaction with these diverse groups has further informed the reference points and built on the original curators talk. Hopefully this second will be as enjoyable and popular as the first.

Film Night: Farewell My Concubine

There was an excellent attendance to the showing of Farewell My Concubine. The film which traces the 50 year relationship between two Peking Opera actors, is set against the back drop of political upheaval in Beijing between 1924 and up to 1978. The films characters adapt to living in new social conditions and this is reflected in both lifestyle and dress. The narrative therefore supports the clothes and images in the exhibition and reinforces how socio-political and economic conditions define clothing.

Guo Pei for Barbie

Guo Pei has an extensive collection of rare Barbie Dolls which have been designed by fashion brands such as Dior. She was also asked to create a range for Barbie and re-interpreted her collection from 2007. Some of the scaled down dresses still incorporated 20 metres of fabric while all the embroidery was immaculately executed by hand. The Barbie collection was shown in Hong Kong and will be shown in Paris in 2012.

Contemporary Designers: Guo Pei

Guo Pei

郭培

Guo Pei began her career in the early 1980’s and is recognised as one of the first generation of Chinese fashion designers. Under her company name Mei Gui Fang (Rose Studio) she is the leading Couturier in China and her list of clients includes people from Beijing’s highest political, media and social circles. Her designs were notably featured throughout the Beijing Olympics of 2008, including the ceremonial dresses, as well individual garments for performers, at the opening and closing ceremonies. Guo Pei stand outs from other contemporary Chinese designer due to her revival of many lost embroidery techniques as well as her catwalk collections. These are on a scale that equal, and in some cases surpass, the technical feats of Paris couture, with one dress in particular taking 50.000 hours to hand embroider in gold. Her showroom and studio, in Beijing, is both elaborate and functional and harks back to an age of opulence and craft similar to the Maison Lesage embroidery atelier of Paris. She manages to perfectly combine oriental references with western style cutting and her attention to detail underpins all of her work. This can be seen in the hand crafted garments loaned for the exhibition and the catwalk pieces from 2007, illustrated through the supporting visuals.

郭培是中国第一代时装设计师，从事服装设计将近25年，是中国时装高级定制的领军人物。她和她的玫瑰坊工作室为包括政界要员，社会名流，影视明星在内的高端客户设计制作礼服。她的作品出现在2008年北京奥运会开幕式，闭幕式及颁奖仪式上，及具中国特色，做工考究，令人惊叹。她那件花费5万个小时，100个绣工，纯手工制作的金色华服，代表中国远赴巴黎参加法国高级时装周，引起轰动。在位于北京中心地带，面积达三千多平米的玫瑰坊总部，那富丽堂皇的会客厅，风格迥异的试衣间，营造出唯美奢华的艺术空间。令人恍若置身于Maison Lesage（世界顶级刺绣大师）的巴黎会所。在郭培的作品中，你可以找到稀有罕见，几近失传的中国传统刺绣和剪裁技艺，也可以领略西方工艺与东方元素的有机结合。所展出的影像资料和实物作品来自郭培2007年时装发布

Contemporary Designers : Ran Fan

RanFan
范然

RanFan is one of the new breed of up and coming Chinese fashion designers. Now based in Beijing, she studied fashion in the UK at Central St Martins and upon returning to China, immediately gained a reputation as a cutting edge designer, creating contemporary designs with an international feel. In 2010 her collection won her the Ellassay Fashion Innovation award and the Cosmopolitan (China) Fashion Designer of the Year award, whilst in 2011 she was also given the Best Fashion Designer Award from The China National Garment Association and China Central Television.

RanFan not only works from her own studio, creating individual pieces for clients but is also part of the developing independent retailer market, selling her collections to a range of companies across China. This is a new departure in the Chinese retail sector and could well herald the beginnings of high-end designer brands in the long term. The garment on loan is from the 2011 summer collection, it has also been to South Africa where it was photographed for Vogue.

范然-中国新生代时装设计师，毕业于英国圣马丁学院服装设计专业，现居北京。前卫的剪裁和国际化的视角为她迅速赢得了声誉。2010年，范然荣获Ellassay时尚创新大奖和中国年度设计师大奖。2011年，获得由中国服装协会颁发的最佳设计师称号。

作为独立设计师，范然不仅局限于小规模的个人定制，还涉足零售市场。中国有很多公司在代理销售她的品牌。从长远看来，这种专门经营独立设计师作品的销售方式为零售市场提供了新的模式。本次展品来自范然2011夏季作品集，曾随《时尚》杂志赴南非进行拍摄。