Chinese imperial court clothes made with plastic, scraps and recycled materials a hit in China
- Dressmaker Lv from Luoyang in central China’s Henan province has spent five years making the clothes during her spare time
- Her dresses inspired by the clothes of Chinese emperors and made using plastic bags, discarded fabrics and scraps have proved popular
A collection of dresses inspired by those worn by ancient Chinese emperors and consorts made from plastic bags, discarded fabrics, and other household scraps have proved a hit on mainland Chinese social media.
The dressmaker, surnamed Lv, from Luoyang in central China’s Henan province has spent the last five years making the unique period clothes during her spare time.
“I’d seen other people make clothes out of eco-friendly materials and thought they were beautiful, so I thought I’d give this a try,” Lv told Wutong Video, a mainland Chinese news site.
Living in one of China’s oldest cities which is considered a cradle of Chinese civilisation, the first thing that came to mind for Lv when choosing a style was ancient court dress.
“I tend to make ancient court dresses,” Lv said, “but I don’t follow the patterns on the old dresses; instead, I design them in a way that I like.”
Lv’s popularity skyrocketed after she created an account on Douyin, China’s TikTok, where her videos have attracted wide attention.
So far, according to Lv, she has made dozens of such dresses, with the most recent a dress decorated with peony flowers, which are closely associated with imperial China and which Luoyang is famous for.
