The ancient intangible cultural heritage patterns are woven stitch by stitch into a magnificent garment the size of a palm.
Traditional core wrapped in a trendy shell
New Year "doll clothes" usher in a new trend
As the Lunar New Year approaches, while people are busy choosing new clothes for their families, trendy toy dolls that are only a dozen centimeters tall have also put on carefully designed "New Year outfits".
These miniature garments, known as "doll clothes," have stitches only a few millimeters long, yet they can contain the entire spirit of the Lunar New Year. Crimson, gilded gold, koi fish... all the images associated with the Spring Festival are condensed into these tiny pieces.
What sparks fly when tradition meets modernity? How do these exquisite garments, crafted with the touch of a fingertip, become new vehicles for the contemporary expression of traditional culture? Recently, our reporter interviewed several creators, telling the stories of inheritance and renewal behind doll clothing.
When trendy toys "dress" up with intangible cultural heritage
Opening a new chapter in national aesthetics
At the Ouluo Workshop in Guangxi, a young woman who flew in from Shanghai is bending down and intently arranging the red Zhuang ethnic brocade headdresses on the dolls in her hands.
Ouluo Workshop is located inside the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum. It mainly develops handicrafts and organizes parent-child craft activities. Its customers are mainly tourists from all over the country.
The store's most popular product was once a refrigerator magnet shaped like a three-dimensional floral crown, imitating Miao silver jewelry and made with Zhuang brocade. "Why not 'wear' this design?" Later, cultural and creative worker Ji Yingqi and her team had a flash of inspiration. They first designed Miao-style floral crown hats for the Kapibala plush toys, and then used Zhuang brocade ribbons and a floral crown base to create traditional Zhuang women's headdresses for the dolls. To the team's surprise, these miniature Zhuang headdresses sold out quickly after being displayed.
During the subsequent "March 3rd" holiday in Guangxi, they launched their second-generation product, upgrading from handmade Zhuang hats to a complete set of Zhuang ethnic costumes. In pursuit of more refined craftsmanship, the team also specially invited experienced tailors to collaborate on the design.
"We only prepared a small quantity of stock, but this design, rich in local characteristics, quickly attracted attention on social media." The photos and experiences shared spontaneously by customers have provided the best possible dissemination for this new form of intangible cultural heritage.
Unlike Ji Yingqi, Chen Qiqiong, a girl from Inner Mongolia, embarked on the path of doll clothing design because of her rich life experiences.
Chen Qiqiong, who graduated with a major in ethnic vocal music, grew up with needle and thread. Both her parents were tailors, and for them, ethnic elements were an aesthetic language flowing through their lives.
In the spring of 2023, she and her parents formed a "family workshop" and embarked on a journey of creating doll clothes. "At that time, there were very few people making new Chinese-style doll clothes, so it was easy to be remembered; more importantly, it was our love for traditional Chinese culture."
Her signature work, "Little Koi," is inspired by the imagery of "abundance year after year" in New Year paintings. To find the ideal color scheme, she repeatedly compared the color tones of the Chinese animated film "Big Fish & Begonia." To recreate the style of a Qing Dynasty Han woman, she consulted numerous documents and images of cultural relics. This piece, carrying auspicious connotations and exquisite craftsmanship, is anticipated by doll enthusiasts as their "New Year's battle robe."
Today, "New Chinese Style" has become a distinctive creative label for Chen Qiqiong. In her view, this is not only an expression of personal aesthetics, but also a conscious effort to spread culture.
Traditional manufacturing enterprises attempt transformation
The market potential behind doll clothing is considerable.
From traditional clothing to miniature doll clothes, it's not just about shrinking the size, but also about lightweighting cultural expression and contemporary transformation of communication thinking.
A number of companies are transforming from "traditional manufacturers" to "cultural transmitters," and Zhejiang Haining Qianshu Textile Technology Co., Ltd. is one of them.
This company, which originally focused on producing intangible cultural heritage fabrics, found inspiration in the doll clothing craze. They cleverly incorporated intangible cultural heritage fabrics such as Xiangyun yarn and Song brocade into their doll clothing creations, giving new life to ancient weaving techniques on a microscopic scale.
"Actually, when we first started making doll clothes, the shareholders had different opinions," admitted Hu Mingyi, the company's general manager. "This did not help increase production capacity much; on the contrary, it required dedicated manpower and energy."
Surprisingly, this seemingly niche "side hustle" gradually benefited the main business. "Some customers contacted us after seeing the doll clothes we made, and became clients of the company's main business."
This year, they also received a special order from a Beijing client for two New Year doll outfits incorporating traditional auspicious patterns. "This collaboration has shown us the cultural value and market potential behind doll outfits. This year, we are also trying to incorporate intangible cultural heritage techniques such as velvet flowers and embroidery into our designs," said Hu Mingyi.
Using creativity as a medium, the doll clothing cleverly integrates traditional craftsmanship into contemporary aesthetics and life scenes. Ji Yingqi also has a deep understanding of this: "Many people think that Zhuang brocade and young trends are incompatible, but in fact, their encounter produces a wonderful chemical reaction."
Ji Yingqi explained that Zhuang brocade craftsmanship originated in the Tang and Song dynasties and was further developed in the Ming and Qing dynasties. After more than a thousand years of development, Zhuang brocade has three major categories, more than 20 varieties, and more than 50 patterns that form its own system. "We make Zhuang brocade into doll clothes, which changes its usage scenario, but retains its core value: a piece of exquisitely made, brightly colored, and meaningful fabric."
"We saw Labubu dolls dressed in ethnic costumes, took photos with Labubu in traditional Thai clothing in Thailand, posed for photos in front of the Sydney Opera House, and were even presented to a Russian conductor." Ji Yingqi and her team are very proud that their ethnic culture can go abroad in this way.
Lu Xiaoqin, director of the Guangxi Ethnic Culture Protection and Inheritance Research Center, once said in a media interview that the integration of "traditional core + trendy shell" is the key: on the one hand, the cultural genes inherent in intangible cultural heritage, such as the geometric patterns of Zhuang brocade, carry ethnic memory and cultural identity, injecting unique "identifiability" into trendy toys; on the other hand, the youthful expression of trendy toys dissolves the "distance" of intangible cultural heritage, transforming the profound cultural heritage into a tangible and shareable trendy carrier.
Even small clothes should have a sense of ritual.
Social attributes drive the resurgence of traditional culture
In recent years, the "new Chinese style" trend and the booming rise of Hanfu culture have quietly permeated the "doll circle" culture. More and more enthusiasts are choosing to buy Chinese-style clothing for their dolls, and dressing up their dolls in appropriate outfits during traditional festivals has become a kind of ritual.
“Many people may feel embarrassed to wear Hanfu themselves, but by buying and dressing up their dolls, they can directly experience and understand these elements.” Chen Qiqiong will take the initiative to study and incorporate traditional craftsmanship and convey this cultural knowledge to buyers. “This is a kind of subtle and silent dissemination.”
The unique social aspect of doll clothing has further fueled the spread and growth of this cultural trend. On social media platforms, every time netizens share photos of traditional doll clothing, it attracts numerous questions: "What ethnic group's clothing is this? Where was it made?" In the comments section, enthusiastic netizens often provide detailed explanations, from the symbolism of the patterns and historical background to the craftsmanship, unfolding a series of silent cultural interpretations.
As young people carefully dress their dolls in traditional clothing, their fingertips touch not only the delicate fabric and exquisite stitches, but also a vibrant piece of history and a warm cultural memory. "We are not replicating tradition, but reinterpreting it in a modern way," Ji Yingqi summarizes. She says that the workshop plans to develop more distinctive ethnic doll clothing series in the future and explore more ways to combine intangible cultural heritage techniques with modern life. "We believe that this continuous experimentation will allow ethnic culture to enter the lives of modern young people in a more relaxed and joyful way."
From digital factories in Haining, Zhejiang, to cultural and creative workshops at the Guangxi Museum, and even family sewing tables in Inner Mongolia; when ancient patterns are shrunk to a width of only 6 centimeters, when the sounds of factory looms echo the late-night scissors in the living room… creators from different regions and backgrounds use every stitch and thread to give traditional culture a lighter, smaller, and more vibrant modern expression. (Qianjiang Evening News reporter Yu Li, intern Pan Yurong)
