Last year at Paris Haute Couture Week, Xu presented a collection of 36 gowns that continued to draw on the traditional Chinese dragon motif. This year, he presented 30 gowns in the theme of Dunhuang.
Dunhuang, in Northwest China's Gansu province, was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and is best known for its Buddhist caves with murals and sculptures.
When Xu was young, his architect father told him about Dun-huang and how many Chinese artists learned painting and copied murals at the caves. Those beautiful folktales haunted him for many years until last July when he finally visited Dunhuang and was inspired.
"From those paintings, I not only saw Buddhist rituals and beautiful dance, but found 'fashion.' I found people in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and earlier dynasties wore trousers with braces and trench coats!"
A model presents creations by Laurence Xu at the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. Photo provided by China Daily.
A model presents creations by Laurence Xu at the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. Photo provided by China Daily.
Xu says.
"I borrowed my ancestors' designs for my work and wish to create a modern look juxtaposing both Western silhouettes and the Chinese flavor," he says.
Like all luxury brands, special materials are vital to Xu's collections. He paid homage to the traditional handicrafts of China, as each couture piece was made in the Nanjing Yunjin brocade.
Literally meaning "beautiful cloud in the sky", Nanjing Yunjin was a complicated textile incorporating materials such as silk, gold, and peacock feather yam. Only made in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, it was once used to produce royal garments. In 2009, UNESCO named it among the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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