Mao to Now: Chinese Fashion from 1949 to the Present is now running through to January 9, 2011 at Goldstein Museum of Design on the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, 364 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108. The exhibition is curated by University of Minnesota College of Design Assistant Professor Dr. Marilyn DeLong, and features the work of Donghua University Fashion, Art & Design Institute Professor Mingxin Bao.
Chinese culture changed drastically between 1949 and the present. The evolution of Chinese fashion reflects how the culture transformed. “Mao to Now” is divided into three periods: pre Mao (1912 to 1948), the Mao era (1949 to 1977), the era of the nondescript Mao suit and the post-Mao era (1978 to present), which demonstrates how, after Mao, Chinese fashion began to exhibit an increasingly dramatic melding of Chinese and Western design expression.
The work of four top Chinese fashion designers will be included in the exhibition: Wu Haiyan, Liu Canming, Wang Yiyang, and Zhang Da. In addition to the items of dress and accessories, the exhibition will feature photographs by high-profile Chinese journalists and photographers to illustrate the differences between the periods.
Wu Haiyan is Associate Dean and Professor in the College of Design at the China Academy of Art. She is also the Vice Chairman of the China Fashion Designers Association. She has published extensively in fashion and design. In addition, she runs a design company WHY DESIGN. Her designs have been exhibited in many cities worldwide including Paris, New York, Tokyo and Berlin.
Liu Canming is Associate Professor in the Fashion Art & Design Institute at Donghua University and teaches fashion design. He is the Chief Art Director of two popular brands, ZIGE and CM Loose. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Fashion Institute at Donghua University and his master’s from the European Institut of Design. He was one of China’s “Top Ten Fashion Designers” in 2007 and has shown designs at Chicago Fashion week in 2008 and 2009.
Wang Yiyang runs two fashion labels: ZUCZUG and CHA GANG. He received his bachelor’s degree in fashion design from China Textile University (now Donghua University), where he taught fashion design. Chen Yifei hired Wang Yiyang to design his new brand, Layefe, in 1997. He was very successful at Layefe and later launched his own labels in 2001 and 2004, respectively. ZUCZUG now has over forty stores in China.
Zhang Da created the women’s wear label BOUNDLESS in 2005. He received his bachelor’s degree from the North West Institute of Textile Science and Technology (now Xi’an Polytechnic University). His works have been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum and his designs have been shown in many countries across the world.
Find out more about the exhibition at http://goldstein.design.umn.edu.
