Fuzhou designer brings ancient cork art to New York Fashion Week

A model shows off an arresting design by Zheng. [Photo/FZ Evening News]

Young fashion designer Zheng Ruiyu, a native of Fuzhou, has successfully launched cork paintings, one of the representative examples of the city's specialist handicrafts and a national intangible cultural heritage item, onto the global stage, creating a stir at the New York Fashion Week.

Born in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province, Zheng grew up surrounded by traditional culture, with her grandfather restoring ancient paintings.

As the fourth-generation inheritor of the Xiaozhai techniques for restoring ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy, Zheng declares, "There are too many excellent traditional handicrafts in China that are difficult to be deeply understood by the public."

After studying at the China Academy of Art and the Parsons School of Design, The New School, Zheng dedicated herself to bridging fashion and cultural heritage.

In 2020, she apprenticed under Chen Junkun, a Fujian craft master and a provincial-level representative inheritor of cork paintings.

Working alongside artisans who were on average 70 years old, Zheng conducted over 200 experiments to modernize the craft, eventually developing a modular magnetic assembly system for traditional carvings.

At the Spring 2023 New York Fashion Week, Zheng unveiled her collection "The Wooden Diary", blending reconstructed cork art elements with contemporary fashion.

Each garment showcased intricate details, with representations of pavilions and towers dynamically shifting with the movements of her models and floral-bird motifs delicately woven into silk folds.

"Beauty always flows from past to future. Tradition isn't outdated, it's the source of trends. What's deeply national becomes truly global," said Zheng, who plans to continue using fashion as a medium for contemporary Chinese storytelling.