PolyU Q&A

Fashion students Topsy Yu Cheuk-lam & Charmaine Lam Ching-hei on their collections and inspirations

Topsy Yu Cheuk-lam

Describe your collection.

"Morning Moon" is an autumn/winter 2020 womenswear collection, inspired by the Chinese character 曌 (zhao). This was the name of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, who ruled [unofficially] during the Tang Dynasty. "Zhao" means that she was just as majestic as the sun and the moon in the sky. With exceptional abilities and dauntless courage, she became the most powerful woman in China.

"Morning Moon" uses a romanticism style to capture the uniqueness of fashion in the Tang Dynasty to build the image of empowered women. In the collection, the design details focus on an exaggerated silhouette and layering. Combining ancient and contemporary elements, this collection presents a unique style that emphasises the balance of feminine and masculine energies. A range of textiles have been developed by using different embroidery techniques – such as foam, 3D and water-soluble embroidery – to produce a trendy, elegant effect and offer bold visuals. Also, some of the embroidery designs attempt to evolve traditional Chinese patterns, like the dragon and phoenix. The pattern is deconstructed and reconstructed to produce an eye-catching textural effect.

I think women should be their own warriors. They don't need to be sturdy like man; they can still be gentle and elegant, but they must remember to keep their mind and heart as hard as a stone. Faith and spirit have to be strong enough to get through all the challenges in life. This collection is expected to show the spirit of a powerful woman who fights for her life and dreams.

What was your inspiration?

I loved to read biographies about women in Chinese history when I was little. Wu Zetian was the first biography I ever read. She's my favorite historical figure in Chinese history and her story inspired my collection a lot. Wu Zetian was the most powerful woman and she ruled China for 14 years. In the previous dynasty, the concept of feminism didn't even exist and women had no right to rule. She created different forms of Chinese characters and renamed herself Wu Zhao. The structure of "zhao" (曌) combines three different Chinese characters. In the upper part, there are two radicals: the sun (日) and the moon (月). Both of these preside over the character "space" (空) below. In ancient China, the sun stood for men and the moon for women. Wu Zetian was an ambitious woman and wanted more power. She didn't want to hide behind the curtain, hosting audiences with the emperor; she wanted her glory to shine bright to the whole world. A woman like Wu Zetian with such power threatened the establishment, but she broke the old rules and fought for her fate.

The fashion of the Tang Dynasty also inspired me a lot. It established dress politics, and the evolution of this system set new fashion and aesthetic standards for women's dress. Womenswear in the Tang Dynasty was beautiful and remarkable in feudal society. It was colorful, bold, luxurious, elegant and grand. The main trends of womenswear in the Tang Dynasty were from concealment to exposure, from simplicity to complexity, and from simplicity to luxury. Womenswear in that era was a bold development in traditional clothing. Its openness and novelty showed the woman's personality of pursuing fashion and being bold.