'New Chinese Style' revives interest in traditional brocade fabric

Several days ago in Suzhou, the hometown of silk, I tried on an item of clothing made from Song brocade fabric in what’s known as the “new Chinese style.”

On Chinese social media platforms, the term “new Chinese style,” always accompanied by “the Song brocade,” has become popular in recent months.

I have a question – has this new Chinese style made Song brocade more popular or has Song brocade helped to start a new fashion trend? In fact, the fabric was said to be on the verge of extinction as recently as the last century.

I met Chinese silk expert Qian Xiaoping. She’s widely regarded as the only national inheritor of the weaving technique used to make Song brocade. It can be said, that without Ms. Qian, the fabric may have disappeared altogether.

 “In the late 1990s, all the Song brocade factories had closed. To save this fabric, I first led my students to restore the old looms from the late 1990s to the early 2000s and then explored their development. These are the traditional skills of intangible cultural heritage,” said Qian Xiaoping, who’s the national inheritor of the Song brocade weaving technique.

Song brocade is a type of fabric that dates back to the Song dynasty, over a thousand years ago. In fact, this traditional Chinese fabric is not new to the Western world. Song brocade was used to make the traditional clothing worn by leaders at the APEC Summit hosted by China in 2014.

“Because of the superiority of Song brocade, it’s soft, flat, and elegant,” said Ms. Qian.

But I think it’s also due to the profound Chinese culture it embodies.

“I created this Song brocade based on what was worn by the queen of the Song Dynasty Emperor Renzong. I designed this fabric based on the pattern of her dress. This pattern then became popular on different materials.”  

The artisan and her workshop are the ones keeping a rare weaving tradition alive, and achieving a quality of fabric that cannot be replicated using computerized looms.

“They once asked me if I wanted to use computerized looms to produce Song brocade. At that time, I thought that Song brocade wasn’t needed in such large quantities. I said that we should produce fewer but better products, not aim for mass production. After mass production, I was afraid that it would be ruined,” said Qian.

I hope the next generation of artisans can help preserve the traditional craftsmanship that's being revived as a new Chinese fashion trend.