Taipei Fashion Week celebrates local design and craftsmanship

Taipei Fashion Week is proving to be a platform for its local design talent, with this year focusing on the theme of a dialogue between indigenous art and fashion.

This culminated in a group show, where five designers collaborated with five traditional craftsman, showing 50 pieces that emphasised the importance of preserving and passing along cultural traditions and design techniques from various indigenous groups.

Taipei Fashion Week stands out from a vast array of international fashion weeks, cementing its own calendar, press and stimulating local design and heritage, instead of trying to compete with the 'big four'.

“I hope that through the translation of these contemporary fashion designers, classic weaving crafts can enter our daily wardrobe,” said Taiwan’s Minister of Culture, Lee Yung-Te.

As set out in the guideline and purpose for Taipei Fashion Wee, the Ministry of culture has placed education at the forefront of its agenda. This has led to the creation of several talent programs, including Young Talent, New Breed and the Taiwan Fashion Design Award.

The Ministry further stated its purpose is to "deeply cultivate culture in fashion", to interpret emotions with fashion, and to present personal feelings and understandings in the works to show a richer cultural connotation. The country also aims to grow its expanding textile industry with leading technological research, fabric innovation and creative branding.

Taiwan Fashion Week runs until 28 October.