Ancient art gets a modern makeover

A model wearing a brocade cheongsam dress. Photo provided to China Daily

His brocade handbags were an instant hit when they appeared at the Suzhou Silk Expo in 2012. Even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chose them as gifts for foreign leaders and their family members.

Wu further invited designers and silk experts to develop clothes and scarves made of the brocade. Their designs won the bid to dress the leaders at the APEC meetings.

Song Brocade designs also won the gold prize at Beijing International Design Week in 2013.

Encouraged by this success, Wu set up a subsidiary in the United Kingdom to explore the overseas market.

Stressing design and marketing, he worked on retaining the craftsmanship for Song Brocade. He recruited college graduates and young workers to learn the skills from senior masters, but the process proved to be challenging.

"It is difficult for people to calm down and sit before a loom for months and months, embarking on a complicated job that demands attention at all times. Many soon quit," he says.

"To make a brocade is a lonely job. It is also very frustrating. If your attention shifts away even for a few seconds, there will be an error and several meters of the brocade, which may have taken months to do, will have to be thrown away."

The success of the ancient brocade in the fashion industry should be attributed to the passing down of ancient skills, the development of technology for machinery production, the combination of art and marketing and the involvement of designers from home and abroad, says Wu.

His own achievement should be attributed to his passion and persistence, he says. "After all, the purpose of making brocades is not just about money. One has to instill emotion into the job to make it good."