The Design Theory of Contemporary 'Chinese' Fashion

摘要

This study shows that the Chinese style exhibits features of "implied beauty" in its aesthetic, flat form in its shape, and harmony in its spirit. I synthesize the three features into one Chinese character, HE. HE mirrors the primary style of contemporary Chinese fashion. It encompasses rich meanings, including harmony, peace, implicit but evoking, reserved, pure, natural, and any of their synonyms. HE indicates an implied beauty system for China, presenting beauty in an implicit and subtle form. Implied beauty evokes in viewers an imagining of the beauty behind the clothing-a sense of the beauty that blends the visible and invisible- rather than forcing them to sense the beauty through their eyes. The primary form in clothing as a reflection of implied beauty is the flat form, meaning that the clothing is cut without darts or seam lines to reduce the definition of the bust line, the waist line, and the hip line. The spiritual reflection of HE is harmony, which means the clothing evokes resonance from the wearer and creates a harmonious relationship between the clothing and the wearer. In spirit, Chinese fashion thus reflects the core Chinese philosophy of harmony, which means being in tune with both the social and the natural environments (see Figure 4).