Adding new value to an old tradition to share in the elegance

文：梁黎

Article by Liang Li

In the mid-1990s, a fashion show entitled From the Barbarous Wildness to the Modern Era stirred the T-stage in Beijing.

The show featuring the traditional costumes of Chinese ethnic minorities was presented by Wei Ronghui, a woman from a remote Miao village in Guizhou Province.

It was the first time for the world to see the brilliance of the traditional costumes of Chinese minority people in a modern design. Not only did she win great fame throughout the world but also won a United Nations award.

Twenty years ago, Wei, who majored in philosophy at university, went a different road after graduation ? to become a fashion designer.

With her great passion for the costumes of ethnic minorities, she has mingled at the core of 56 nationalities in the country in technique, colour, pattern and fabric. In the meantime, she has also combined them with international fashion trends. Each of her creations appears not only as an exquisite art piece, but is also suitable for daily use.

By absorbing the cultural elements of the ethnic tribes, Wei’s designs have their own flavour.

For instance, she has used the ancient Dongba characters of the Naxi ethnic group in her designs. The patterns of the Naxi murals were also her choices.

When she worked on the Dong costume, she adopted the waterwheel and roofed bridge, two commonly seen structures from that area, in her design. She once used such material to make a mini-skirt.

In her designs, Wei is trying to build a bridge between the traditional and the modern. She tells the old stories and history of each ethnic tribe in her designs. Wei has created her own brand Ah Duo * Wei.

When she was a little girl, Wei had been adept at handicrafts. She was able to make the exquisite belt of the Miao people. Inspired by the rich cultural heritage in her hometown, Wei decided to do something to highlight its brilliance as well as that of other ethnic minorities in the country.

Over the past 20 years she has covered almost every corner inhabited by minority nationalities, collecting various historical records involving both written information and pictures, which have given her rich inspiration in her designs.

Wei’s home seems to be a small costume museum. For Wei, the happiest moments are sitting on her balcony, appreciating her collection with a magnifier. It is those time-worn dresses that stimulate her creations.

Apart from the works displayed at the From the Barbarous Wildness to the Modern Era, Wei has been responsible for another show featuring Tibetan culture.

The event entitled I Come from the Snow Mountain, not only highlighted garments from ancient times including dresses for daily life, wedding ceremonies and war, but also revealed the costumes popular nowadays in the Weizang, Kangba and Anduo areas.

She also made a prediction for the trendy development of Tibetan fashion in the 21st century in her party dresses and yak-wool series.

Wei is considered one of the inheritors of traditional costumes of Chinese ethnic minorities, who adds new value to an old tradition.

Combining the traditional costumes of Chinese ethnic minorities with modern fashion, Wei has let the world share the elegance of the traditional art.