Mingjing Lin

Qipao is a traditional Chinese dress that was originally wide and loose, it covered most of the woman’s body revealing only the head, hands and tips of the toes. The shape of the garment changed in the 1920s when the area around Shanghai became the center of Eastern trade and local tailors continued shaping and making qipao with traditional ironing technique, but altered the traditional shape into something more form fitting. Prof. Li from Tsinghua University has recently completed extensive research into the history of qipao and compiled his finding in his new book, Qipao History from 1920-1940 that crucially explores the historical and social history of the qipao making industry, as well as the pattern cutting and making techniques. 

Mingjing Lin (PhD candidate, Textiles) has reinterpreted the traditional garment with modern 3D printing and parametric modelling. With cultural exchange at the heart of the project, the new garments echo tradition in the way they are both sustainable, as they follow a continuous pattern there is little waste material. Mingling was inspired by the ‘one-piece’ pattern of qipao and inspired by the traditional Chinese ironing technique that helps the flat pattern fitted to the body, and how this ancient method of draping can translate across time and space to create a garment that adapts to any body with the same silhouette and beautiful movement.

The modern garments are printed using SLA+FDM printing technique and modeled using parametric modeling technique. Technical support is provided by Peng Xie (University of South California), technical consultancy by Filippo Nassetti (founder of MHOX), organised by 3W studio, curated by Hexagon Collective. A physical performance by Night Clear 19 and Hexagon collective with dancers Luke Crook and Waddah Sinada will take place at the private view and will create links between tradition and modernity and east and west to highlight similarities and essence, despite cultural differences.