Homegrown chic:
Traditional Tibetan costume is finding a whole new audience and creating new revenue streams for ethnic communities thanks to homegrown contemporary fashion companies
Traditional Tibetan costume is finding a whole new audience and creating new revenue streams for ethnic communities.
Tibetan traditional costume, with its uniquely bright colors, robe-like design and use of yak’s wool, is carving a path to the wider world by adopting modern, fashionable elements.
The jeans and nipped waist-designs are in; the baggy robe is out, while the cross collar, raglan sleeve and old colorful patterns are reserved — all to make the clothes more appealing to style-savvy customers while at the same time preserving the key cultural elements.
Tibetan traditional costume was inscribed onto the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. During the fourth China Tibet Tourism and Culture Expo held in September, models, dressed in these new innovative Tibetan costumes, amazed their audience, and offered hope for this latest potential opportunity to meld with tradition with contemporary fashion.
“Clothes should be worn. If they are only hung in shop windows or museums, they will be forgotten quickly,” says Li Mei, president of the Tibet Ethnic Dressing Culture Institute. “The way people live has changed, therefore, traditional costumes should also evolve to meet their new demands.”
Back in the old days, Tibetan herdsmen and farmers used to wear traditional dress every day while working on the plateau. Since they rarely carried a bag, the outfit, composed of a huge robe and a wide belt, had a pocket at the waist in which they used to carry zanba (roasted barley flour) and a snuff bottle — sometimes even a baby — in it, according to Li.
The heavy and thick clothes also helped to keep them warm in the depth of winter, and the sleeves were removable for working in the hot summer. However, these days, young Tibetans in Lhasa, capital of Southwest Tibet autonomous region, only wear the costume at grand events such as festivals or parties due to the complicated way of dressing.
“If you have to take 30 minutes to put on your clothes every time, you will not want to wear it,” Li adds. The goal is to make wearing Tibetan costume as easy as wearing a shirt.
The institute, which was officially inaugurated in September, expects to study the long history and culture behind the clothes, collect all the existing patterns of Tibetan costume, invite experts to create innovative designs, help local apparel companies to grow and then, finally, build a self-owned brand that’s internationally renowned, Li says.
“I’ve seen very expensive clothes from some global fashion brands that only have one piece of cloth and a belt — the same as Tibetan costume. If they can make it luxurious and brand it, then why can’t we?”
“People can also learn more about Tibetan culture through this apparel, too,” agrees Chemi Dolkar, an artistic design teacher from the Tibet University in Lhasa. “It’s the most direct way.”
During the expo, 30 outfits, designed by nine students from the university, were on display. They also attended the 2016 Shanghai fashion week.
“The clothing has close links to the region. You can tell where a person comes from without even speaking a word, you know, simply by looking at their clothes,” she says.
Tibetan costume has also helped to transmit the beliefs of Tibetan people to the modern generation, she says.
“Old men love to wear clothes painted with suns and moons, which signify good fortune, happiness and longevity,” she explains. “The use of animals’ leather and the original color of the wool also shows the wearer’s respect for nature.”
Li adds that the costumes reflect the simple and pious attitude toward life of the Tibetan people.
“They don’t care about whether their children are the top students in class, whether they play the piano for two hours a day; they only care about whether they feel happy or not,” she says.
“Many visitors, especially those from first-tier cities, come to Tibet once and never want to leave. They enjoy the lifestyle when they’re drinking sweet tea in the sun.”
Tashi Yudron, founder of Barada, a local apparel company, says she has sold clothes to customers in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Sichuan province.
Prices of the clothes range from about 100 yuan ($14) to over 10,000 yuan and it takes three tailors two days to finish one piece of clothing. She also shoots videos to teach customers how to wear it.
“When I was young, my parents used to make clothes for me by recycling other people’s clothes. In my hometown, we wear traditional costume every day. I have grown a strong attachment to it and, although starting my own business has been hard, I am on the way to realizing my dream.”