Majestic mountains stand tall upon the earth,
White clouds drift by at their feet,
Green trees and red flowers faintly appear,
Adorned in vibrant Qiang red, singing and dancing.
Vast, simple, and peaceful,
Like a vivid picture of ethnic minority customs,
It transforms into the totem of sheme's Spring/Summer 2023 collection, "Cloud·Stone·Ballad."
The ancient Qiang people, during their migration,
adapted to their surroundings, settling halfway up
the Minjiang River.
The mountains are shrouded in mist year-round,
hence the Qiang are known as the "people on the clouds."
The Qiang's ethnic character blends with the clouds beneath their feet,
Over long years, it seems they have become one
with the clouds—
The "cloud" moves with the wind,
following the natural order,
Never conflicting with nature,
freely roaming the vast sky.
Similarly, the Qiang people are untroubled
by the unpredictability of the world,
adapting to the rugged mountains and terrain,
Farming, building their homes with stones,
harmonizing with everything around them,
guarding this peace for generations.
The designer employs Chinese ink painting techniques
to abstractly depict the Qiang's natural ecology,
Dyeing the blue sky as the shoe's background,
blurring the boundaries of white clouds,
sketching the elegant outlines of green mountains.
The hollyhock flowers in the mountains of Aba symbolize
wild fearlessness and brave dream-chasing,
Reflecting the Qiang's ethnic character,
resembling the Qiang people singing and dancing in their villages.
This touch of Qiang red is also dotted in the painting by the designer.
sheme's artisans blend intangible cultural
heritage Shu embroidery with modern fashion,
Improving traditional seed embroidery
techniques to shape the fluffy form of clouds.
They cleverly combine elements like beads, sequins,
and Swarovski crystals,
Creating an Oriental aesthetic on the backdrop of blue heavy silk.
The heel design is inspired by the
Qiang watchtowers,
a world intangible cultural heritage.
The Qiang ancestors adapted to nature,
using local stones to build watchtowers over
30 meters tall at an altitude of 1500 meters,
serving multiple functions like grain storage
and defense, guarding the Qiang people's peace.
The designer extracts the silhouette of the Qiang watchtower,
merging ethnic charm with international fashion
Turning it into a crystal-like gradient heel that echoes
the "cloud" totem on the shoe surface.
Through a pair of shoes,
sheme combines the Qiang people's philosophy
of harmonious coexistence with nature,
With international fashion, creating a burst of vitality.
Today, we all face environmental constraints,
unattainable desires, and struggles,
The Qiang people's resilience and optimism,
like the "cloud," show us a wisdom of life.