A fashion house with designs on the past

Smiling Buddhas and other relics from grottoes 1,500 years old have inspired the spring collection of one Shanghai fashion house.

The Phiuma line of bags, clothing and home decorations, unveiled last month at the annual Showroom Shanghai event, features elements from China's treasured Yungang Grottoes in the northern province of Shanxi.

"It's really impressive that such ancient, austere and aloof artistic items can be made so lively," said Zhang Zhuo, Party secretary of the grottoes and a researcher of the relics for two decades.

Phiuma, founded by Wang Wenbo, located its base three years ago in Minhang's IF Cultural and Innovation Industrial Park.

Wang, a graduate of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, came to Shanghai in 2009 to work as a fabric designer. He has a good eye for designs and trends, and his work often took him on the road, including stops along the old Silk Road that inspired him.

When starting his own company, Wang was told by IF park director Qu Yifan that he needed to build his own distinctive brand and be more proactive with design.

Wang decided that cultural products, especially those sold in the libraries, were a good start. At any rate, it would give him the chance to both travel and look for items that interested him.

His initial products included some spin-offs from the Palace Museum in Beijing, the TV program "National Treasure," the Shaanxi History Museum and some other scenic sites like the Forest of Steles in Xi'an.

They turned out to be successful and began to lift the profile of Phiuma.

The fashion house really took off last year when it nailed a cooperative agreement with the managers of Yungang Grottoes in the city of Datong. The managers were keen to promote the cultural heritage of the site, while Wang was more than willing to do something creative with the material it afforded him. He and his team spent time in the grottoes, learning the history and sketching sculptures and other relics. Ideas took shape.

Construction of the grottoes began in AD 460 during the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534) and lasted for over six decades, leaving over 5,000 Buddha statues in caves that stretch about a kilometer. It is one of China's largest ancient grottoes and has been listed as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO for 20 years.

Ti Gong

Wang illustrated his creative process by one of their works.

It started at the 10th grotto, where a symmetrical sculpture depicts Xumi Mountain, an imaginary place in the Buddhist religion where a variety of beasts live harmoniously together.

The designers sketched the mountain and filled it with animal figures to make a modern image. Each animal has its own symbolism – like the elephant for birth and the horse for religious conversion. The design was printed onto company products.

"We have seen some positive feedback from the market, but there is still a long way to go before we make a profit from these designs," Wang said. "Time is what we need most now."

Wang continues Phiuma's original line of bedding design as backup to finance the company expansion into more cultural avenues.

"For the moment, it's okay if we don't make a lot of money as long as we are heading in a worthwhile direction," he said.

He has his sights set on fusing the ancient with the contemporary, the Chinese with the Western. His target is largely a young generation willing to embrace new, independent ideas.

Today's market "shows a profound public acceptance for creative businesses," Wang said. "And the trend can perfectly allow fusion with the past."

Wang said he was thrilled by the reception Phiuma designs received at Showroom Shanghai.

"It's steeled our resolve to keep working on interpreting unique Chinese classics from a modern perspective," he said.

"We see how traditional culture can be blended into fashion commercially."

The Yungang Grottoes

The Yungang Grottoes are located in the Shanxi Province city of Datong. Only 254 caves remain today. The statues they house can be as high as 17 meters and as small as 2 centimeters.

Completed under royal decree in the 5th and the 6th centuries, the statues distinctively show the Buddhist characteristics of South and Central Asia. The fusion with Chinese cultural traditions reflects the influence of the powerful Silk Road trade.

Yungang Grottoes Research Academy was established in February this year to protect the heritage, conduct research and promote the culture the grottoes encapsulate.

Digitalization work on the 45 major caves started in 2003 to create a lasting record unmarred by the ravages of weathering.

Since the end of last year, an exhibition featuring 120 authentic relics and a life-size replica of Cave 12, called the Musical Cave from Yungang Grottoes, began touring China and the world.

Ti Gong