Handmade elegance, fashioable style(1)

2008-02-25 10:51:14 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

Hong Kong’s Maggie Cheung dressed in more than 20 qipao outfits when filming the movie In the Mood for Love (2005). The colours, styles and materials used in the actor's traditional dresses changed throughout the movie, expressing a sense of elegance and style that touched many who saw the movie. This kindled a return of the qipao as a heartfelt fashion statement.

As one of the most traditional and typical dresses for Chinese women, the qipao has spawned many stories in its history of change and adaption, but in the Chinese people’s minds, it always symbolizes elegance, nobility and fashion.

Yet, it seems that this typical representative of Chinese culture finds itself ensnared in a clothing industry dilemma: the traditional skills used to make qipao are threatened with extinction. Few companies remain that are really qualified to make a traditional qipao in China, especially those using traditional skills. Worse yet, few women wear qipao in their daily lives, preferring to wear them on TV shows or during some special occasions.


In December 2007, Shuangshun Qipao reopened in the flagship shop of Beijing Hong Du Corporation Groups in Dongjiao Minxiang after a more than 20-year hiatus. The return of this qipao brand brought surprise and attracted a lot of enthusiasm from the media and fashion circles.

In fact, the reopening of Shuangshun Qipao symbolizes more than the reopening of a clothing shop; it means the renaissance of the qipao as a traditional handicraft, although it still has a long way to go in awaiting the renaissance of peoples’ minds.

Shuangshun was established by a man named Han Junfeng in early 1920s. On its debut, Shuangshun was known for making all kinds of clothes, not just for specializing in making the qipao. Their standards related to custom tailoring and meticulous attention to detail gained them a good reputation, and over the years, Shuangshun became a big clothes-making shop with more than 40 working staff. This was regarded as a giant enterprise in the clothing industry at that time in Beijing. Today, Shuangshun has been cited as a China Time Honoured Brand (Zhonghua Laozihao)

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