It's not just fashion

The classic white T-shirt is getting a revolutionary makeover in a program presented by The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) China New Design Series, as part of their continuing commitment to showcasing the best in Chinese and global design.

Project White T-Shirt is curated by Triple-Major, a Los-Angeles based creative studio that aims to reinvent popular culture by collaborating with artists to rethink classic icons. 31 designers from 13 countries have deconstructed and recreated the white T-shirt as we know it.

Participating designers include a mix of well-known international talent such as Bruno Pieters, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair and Kostas Murkudis, as well as experimental designers Complex Geometries, Daniel Palillo. Some of the participants chose to reconstruct the T-shirt as a tent, a curtain, or a pillow, while others abandoned cotton fabric entirely and created T-shirts made from marshmallows and ropes.

One of the participants in Project White T-Shirt is Chinese designer Sankuanz. When he made his first appearance at UCCA, he was an up-and-coming designer working for a local design shop. Today he is a major international figure representing China's new generation of design talent on the world stage.

"We want to explore even more innovative ways to showcase contemporary Chinese designs, educate the public about the core principles of design and create deeper interactions with the designers themselves. All in a way that reflects China's new status as a design powerhouse," says Cui Qiao, head of the Education and Public Programs Department at UCCA.

The China New Design Series, initiated by UCCA's Department of Education and Public Programs in August of 2009, is a long-term program aimed at supporting contemporary Chinese designers and finding innovative ways of bringing their work to a broader audience.

The project at UCCA in Beijing is the final leg of its tour after exhibitions in Los Angeles and Tokyo.

Video: Huan Cao

Photograph: Chris Clark