The unvanishing bushes
"The Invanishable Bushes" is a work focusing on small town youth groups. It was born from the author's own life experience, and it also reflects the confusion and struggle of countless urban youth under the wave of urbanization.
In today's China, the process of urbanization is unstoppable, and big cities are like magnets to attract countless young people with dreams. They are eager to escape the blandness of the small town, find opportunities in the prosperity of the big city, and realize their self-worth. However, reality is often not as good as imagined. The high cost of living, fierce competitive pressure, and alienated interpersonal relationships all make these "outsiders" feel at a loss. They try to integrate into the rhythm of the big city, but they can't get rid of the "small town atmosphere", just like stubborn bushes, out of place in the cement forest of the city.
At the same time, the hometown of the town is also undergoing earth-shaking changes. Once the field was replaced by tall buildings, familiar streets become strange, those carrying the memory of youth corner gradually disappear. Young people in small towns find that they can neither fully integrate into the big city nor return to their hometown in memory. They are like in a vague transition zone, neither here nor there, and become "marginal people" in the process of urbanization ".
"The Invanishing Bush" uses "bush" as a metaphor to vividly depict this embarrassing state of existence. The bush is neither as eye-catching as a towering tree nor as lovable as a delicate flower. It is ordinary, tough and full of vitality, but it is often ignored by people. Just like the young people in small towns, they may not be dazzling enough, but they also have their own dreams and pursuits, and their stories are also worthy of being listened to and recorded.
The work integrates the image of "bushes" into the clothing design, and shows the unique aesthetic taste and spiritual outlook of the town youth through printing, profile and other elements. Those down-to-earth but slightly tacky entertainment patterns symbolize their pursuit of popular culture and their desire for self-expression, while the loose and comfortable clothing profile reflects their casual and free attitude towards life.
"The Invanishing Bushes" is not only a work about costume design, but also a picture depicting the survival of contemporary small town youth. It allows us to see, under the impact of the wave of urbanization, how young people in small towns work hard to find their own position, how to stick to themselves in confusion, and how to bloom their own light in the cracks.
My work breaks through the boundaries of traditional fashion design, integrates social issues and cultural thinking into the design, and reflects the attention and thinking of the younger generation of Chinese designers to social reality. It reflects the social problems such as the gap between urban and rural areas and population mobility in the process of urbanization in China, and wants to arouse our attention and thinking about the living conditions of young people in small towns. Using the "bush" as a metaphor, it implies the erosion of the natural environment by the urbanization process, and calls people to pay attention to environmental protection and sustainable development. My works show the inheritance and innovation of Chinese traditional culture by young people in small towns, and reflect their recognition and confidence in local culture.
"The Invanishing Bushes" is not only an attempt at costume design, but also a reflection and exploration of Chinese society, culture and environment. I hope that through my works, people will pay attention to the youth groups in small towns, hope that towns will not disappear in the torrent of urbanization, and think about various problems in the process of urbanization.
I am a fashion design explorer from Guangdong. I graduated from the fashion design department of Shenzhen University in 2024. I am currently studying for a postgraduate degree in fashion design at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
I always believe that clothing is not only a fabric covering the body, but also a medium that carries culture, expresses emotions, and transmits ideas. Therefore, my design journey always revolves around "culture" and "people. I have a keen interest in humanities and social sciences, especially in the study of native culture. I like to go deep into the streets, observe the dress habits of different groups of people, listen to the stories between them and their clothes, and draw inspiration from them. In the creative process, I am good at capturing delicate emotional moments from daily life and transforming them into abstract design language. I am keen to use photography, painting and other means of visual art, image deconstruction, reorganization, to explore the relationship between clothing and body, space.
My design style wanders between sense and sensibility, focusing on the structure and functionality of clothing, and the pursuit of visual artistic beauty. I am good at using different fabrics, colors and texture, to create a rich sense of layering and dramatic tension of the clothing works. I hope my design can break people's inherent cognition of clothing and stimulate their imagination and creativity.
In the future, I hope to continue to explore the relationship between fashion design and cultural studies, and try to integrate more diverse cultural elements into my design. I believe that fashion design can become a bridge across cultures and hearts, and I am willing to be one of the builders of this bridge.
