Silk, exquisite fabrics and striking colors give Chinese fashion its distinctive appeal. With its exotic silhouettes and understated elegance, Asian style has found its way into international boutiques and onto runways more and more in recent years. Chinese fashion carries a nearly 5,000-year-old tradition that developed its own distinct style relatively free of outside influence. It is, first and foremost, a facet of culture — one that traces the changes in Chinese society across the centuries. Clothing has long signaled wealth, distinguished social classes and even nationalities, marked professions, and served both practical and decorative purposes. Thanks to China's relative isolation for much of its history, its fashion was largely spared the frequent shifts and style changes seen in the West — allowing many traditional styles, from the classic cheongsam to the garments of Chinese warriors still echoed today in martial arts like kung fu and tai chi, to endure.
The qipao: silk and velvet
The "cheongsam," a long women's dress usually made of embroidered silk and also known as the "qipao," is central to traditional Chinese fashion. It's characterized by a high collar, a row of fastenings over the right shoulder, and slits on both sides of the skirt. It's typically worn without accessories, which keeps it simple to produce, and can be tailored short or long, with or without sleeves, and in colors and patterns suited to the occasion — equally at home at formal events or as everyday wear. The qipao is meant to convey the modesty, elegance and grace of the wearer.
The word "qipao" roughly translates to "banner gown." It originates with the Manchus, who — following the introduction of the Eight Banners system in the 17th century — wore a robe whose silhouette resembles today's qipao. It became especially popular under the Qing dynasty, gradually evolving from a loose, long robe into the more fitted dress recognized today.
While the qipao is still worn today, Chinese fashion overall has increasingly converged with Western trends. Major fashion houses like Armani and Gucci have had a presence in Chinese cities' boutiques since the 1970s. With its young population increasingly drawn to Western style, China is a major market for Western designers — but also for Chinese designers trained in the US and Europe who are working to make their own mark. Well-known Chinese designers such as Wu Xuekai, Fang Ying, Liang Zi, Wang Hongying, Gu Yi and Luo Zheng blend these international influences with classic Chinese accents, creating a Chinese fashion that has found real success on the runways of Milan and Paris.
