This Spring Festival, the Hanfu horse-faced skirt, known as the "New Year robe", is on fire. In Cao County, Shandong, the New Year's dress for the Year of the Dragon, which is dominated by horse-faced skirts, has sales of more than 300 million yuan, and Caoxian County's horse-faced skirts that have sold 300 million yuan are still in short supply. On the e-commerce platform, the search volume of horse face skirts has skyrocketed, and there is no shortage of horse face skirts at major Spring Festival parties.
The horse-faced skirt became a "New Year robe".
There are so many styles of Hanfu, why is there only a horse-faced skirt "out of the circle"? When the horse-faced skirt became a fashionable item, Hanfu enthusiasts, merchants and traditional cultural scholars called for not to let the horse-faced skirt become a temporary popularity, but to let the "horse-faced skirt fever" drive the public into a broader Hanfu world.
The horse-faced skirt is "out of the circle" and difficult to copy.
The horse-faced skirt is on fire, and the first to feel this is the Hanfu merchants. Since December last year, the original children's clothing Hanfu store of He Chengyong, the shopkeeper of Qibo***, has ushered in the peak sales season. He is a native of Yongquan, Taizhou, Zhejiang, in addition to the well-known Yongquan mandarins, embroidered cheongsam is also one of the main industries. Around 2014, He Chengyong, who was still in college, began to get in touch with e-commerce and came up with the idea of starting a business. "At the beginning, it started with children's cheongsam, and around 2018, the short ** platform rose to bring fire Hanfu, and there were relatively few children's Hanfu products on the market. ”
Qibo *** children's horse face skirt.
In the impression of many consumers, the horse face skirt was the first to "go out of the circle" because of the "plagiarism of horse face skirt" storm of an international brand in July 2022. On the streets of Paris, France, many Chinese and international students wore Hanfu and held signs**, calling on the international brand to stop cultural appropriation.
It looks more like a pleated skirt worn daily, with the taste of traditional Hanfu, and it is not too exaggerated, and can be matched with many daily clothes. Yu Can, who works in Shanghai, said that since last year, more and more people have been wearing horse-faced skirts on the streets of Shanghai, "I saw a girl in Jing'an Temple wearing a white shirt and a black horse-faced skirt, which made people grow grass specially." Yu Can believes that after the "plagiarism of horse face skirt" turmoil, many Hanfu bloggers and enthusiasts spontaneously popularized the knowledge of horse face skirts and gave daily matching plans for horse face skirts, "so that the traditional cultural blood in more people's bones has awakened". During the Spring Festival this year, she picked two horse-faced skirts, one red and one black, as New Year's dresses.
There are a lot of posts on Xiaohongshu about horse-faced skirts.
Meng Yuecen, a post-90s Hanfu designer who runs an independent Hanfu brand, graduated from Donghua University and has been making Hanfu since 2019. She believes that the horse-faced skirt is not a sudden explosion, but a thick accumulation. "In the Hanfu circle, the Ming Hanfu has always been the most popular, one is because its age is relatively close to the contemporary era, there are more unearthed cultural relics shape reference, it was advertised as the 'orthodox' Hanfu at the beginning, and at the same time, it is also the most 'wearable' Hanfu, and the Ming horse face skirt is the bottom that matches the Ming Hanfu top. ”
Nowadays, some stores specializing in horse-faced skirts have a huge business volume, and it is not uncommon for a live broadcast to sell hundreds of thousands of pieces. Mass production has reduced sales**, and the price of horse-faced skirts has indeed been declining in recent years, and with large merchants, it will also lower the pricing of other stores. Meng Yuecen is also paying attention to the horse skirt market, in her opinion, "this market is still a lot of room to fully explode, and its apex may be far from being reached." ”
On the first day of work after the holiday, Hu Xiao, who was in charge of art work in the Chinese costume restoration team, was busy until after 23 o'clock before he had time to be interviewed by a reporter from Jiefang** Shangguan News. On the stage of this year's Henan Satellite TV Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Dragon, the costume restoration team made three sets of restored costumes for actor Yang Mi in the program "Dreaming of Elegance", one of which is the all-silk "Golden Gui Xiangyun Diyue Palace Fairy Jade Rabbit Pattern Horse Face Skirt" with a "Green Brocade Dark Flower Satin Collar Cardigan", just looking at the name is already poetic.
On the stage of the Henan Spring Festival Gala, Yang Mi appeared in the representative costume of a late Ming woman. (Chinese Costume Restoration Team).
This horse-faced skirt is restored according to the fabric fragments of the Ming Dynasty, and the brocade, dark flower craftsmanship and overall cutting method are all relatively strong late Ming style - slender and slender, which is the silhouette that modern people prefer, and also fits the personal temperament and appearance characteristics of the wearer. Hu Xiao introduced that the horse-faced skirt is a relatively easy-to-make Hanfu style, and it took half a year for the whole dress to be developed and produced, and the difficulty is mainly in the process.
Xiangyun Diyue Palace Fairy Jade Rabbit Pattern Woven Gold Brocade Horse Face Skirt (Chinese Costume Restoration Team).
The brand "Mulberry" under the Chinese costume restoration team is exquisite in provenance and version, and has high requirements for traditional craftsmanship, and the price of the horse-faced skirt is more than 1,000 yuan. Hu Xiao told reporters that the horse-faced skirt usually refers to a two-piece skirt with pleats on both sides of the skirt door like a "horse face" on the city wall, as long as it meets this basic requirement, it can be called a horse-faced skirt. Although the popular horse-faced skirt on the market is different from ancient times in terms of craftsmanship, it can be seen as the evolution and inheritance of traditional clothing in contemporary times. "The horse face skirt appeared in the Song and Yuan dynasties, entered the peak of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is still popular until modern times, and its style and frame have been basically fixed since its birth, but the cutting, volume, and decoration techniques have changed with the popularity of different eras. ”
It can be said that the horse-faced skirt has a strong heritage, and at the same time, it also has fashion attributes, which may be the cultural gene that can become a fashion item at the moment. However, Hu Xiao also believes that there are "factors that are favorable to the time, place and people" that the horse-faced skirt can "get out of the circle", and other Hanfu styles may be difficult to copy.
Hanfu "improvement" is not a bad thing.
With the rise of traditional culture, more and more traditional costumes appear on the evening program, in the Spring Festival Gala program "New Year" of the Year of the Dragon, Liu Tao, Liu Shishi, Li Qin, and Guan Xiaotong four actors performed in costumes of different dynasties of the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties, respectively, to convey New Year blessings to the audience.
From 2021 and 2022, we really started to increase our efforts to make horse face skirts. In the early days, one or two styles were developed in a quarter, and now there are more than a dozen original styles of horse-faced skirts in a quarter. He Chengyong observed that in the past, only shops that focused on traditional clothing would launch Hanfu styles such as horse-faced skirts, but this year, some shops that make general clothing have also begun to launch horse-faced skirts. He believes that another factor that the horse-faced skirt can become a "New Year's robe" is that it is more daily, "Compared with traditional Hanfu, the horse-faced skirt is less picky, and everyone looks good when they wear it." In some work scenes, the shape of some hanfu may seem exaggerated, but the horse-faced skirt is more everyday. ”
Meng Yuecen believes that compared with other Hanfu skirts, the horse-faced skirt is more recognizable, "The horse-faced skirt is a two-piece skirt, with two skirt doors at the front and back, and the structure is very prominent, and you can perceive its 'difference' when you see it." However, this "difference" limits the wearability of traditional horse-faced skirts to a certain extent. Meng Yuecen said that many friends around him knew about the horse-faced skirt, but they had not yet made up their minds to buy one to wear, but they were frightened by the relatively complicated way of wearing.
At present, many of the popular horse-faced skirts on the market are modified models, and some have zippers installed on the side instead of the traditional waist tie. He Chengyong introduced that in the past few years of his own business, he has witnessed the expansion of the children's Hanfu market. While retaining traditional elements, designers have introduced new production techniques, such as smaller-sized children's horse-faced skirts, all of which are made elastic and easy for children to wear, all of which are to make traditional clothing more daily.
In the Hanfu circle, the shape and Hanfu wearing have always been a matter of concern. Will the improved horse-faced skirt cause controversy over the shape? Meng Yuecen found that in the first two or three years of making Hanfu, the Hanfu market was still a niche, and the demand for Hanfu lovers for the shape was very high, so it must be studied clearly. In the past two years, the Hanfu market has developed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and as sales are getting higher and higher, consumers' mentality is becoming more and more open, "more and more people are interested in Hanfu, and there is more demand for improvement." Take my shop as an example, the needs of some consumers who wear Hanfu to work are getting more and more daily year by year, at first we make big sleeves, then pipa sleeves, and then bow bag sleeves - they say, can it be shorter next year? ”
While wearing Hanfu, you can learn about the doorway of Hanfu. Many people don't understand Hanfu because they can't get in touch with it, and if they have the heart to understand, it may take half a day to have a general understanding. As Chinese, you should have some knowledge of traditional Chinese clothing and can wear improved Hanfu, but it is best to understand what has been improved, so that you can better spread and carry forward traditional Chinese culture in international exchanges. When my store does live broadcasts, I will talk about the difference between improved models and traditional ones, and why I want to make these improvements. "For example, a hot-selling elastic waist loose pleats without slit horse face skirt solves the problem that the pressed and sharp horse face skirt is not easy to take care of and iron, and there is no need to worry about the skirt door slit is easy"**But it can still be seen at a glance that it is the silhouette of a horse face skirt. In Meng Yuecen's view, improvement is not a bad thing, "The cognition of Hanfu is too restricted, and many people can't get in, let alone put it on." ”
Many netizens on Xiaohongshu are hotly discussing the selection skills of horse face skirts.
Faced with a variety of horse-faced skirts on the market, many consumers have difficulty in choosing. On social platforms, posts such as "How to buy a horse-faced skirt without stepping on thunder" attracted the attention of netizens, and some people introduced the taboos of wearing horse-faced skirts, such as the skirt length should not be too short, and "if you show too many legs, you have to change it". Previously, Yang Mi's ** traveling in a horse-faced skirt caused heated discussions among netizens, and some Hanfu lovers suggested that her way of dressing was incorrect, "the skirt door is crooked to the side".
Yang Mi's horse-faced skirt wearing method has caused heated discussions.
Over the years, the Chinese costume restoration team has been non-stop "taking orders", matching traditional costumes for the evening program, and spreading the beauty of traditional costumes on large and small screens. "We have more than 700 styles to choose from in our warehouse, which are 'tailor-made' according to the wearer's individual characteristics and the requirements of the show. In Hu Xiao's view, ordinary customers can also tailor their horse-faced skirts to the next level, so that they can have a better wearing effect without mopping the floor and just fitting around.
Historical horse-faced skirt style, courtesy of the costume restoration team.
There is no fixed requirement for the length of the horse-faced skirt, the length of the horse-faced skirt unearthed from different tombs in ancient times, the number of pleats, and the patterns are different, some to the ankles, some to the calf, and some to the foot, there is also no restriction in terms of collocation, the traditional short jacket, long jacket, collar, vertical collar and other styles at that time can be matched. "Ancient people were very free in this regard, and modern people can choose according to their preferences and occasions. Clothing serves people, and most importantly, it is decent. Hu Xiao said that when choosing a horse-faced skirt, you should also be confident in yourself while being culturally confident.
Cold thinking: The important thing is to form an industry.
On the sales platform, the "Golden Cinnamon Xiangyun Land Moon Palace Fairy Jade Rabbit Pattern Horse Face Skirt" is labeled as "original". Design is an important factor in clothing, and the horse-faced skirt has become popular, which has made the problem of Hanfu design prominent again.
Due to the need for continuous innovation in styles, He Chengyong was once distressed that he could not recruit good designers. "We moved from Taizhou to Hangzhou a few years ago, largely because it was difficult to recruit designers locally; Even if you have been in Hangzhou for so long, it is still difficult to recruit really good designers. At present, the designers in the team are mainly 'post-95'. "At the same time, there are always problems such as copycats, plagiarism, etc. "As soon as the original style comes out, the model that sells well will soon have a copy version, and it will be cheaper. ”
In the past, the Hanfu from Cao County did not have a good reputation, and many people would think that it was a 'cottage' base. A Hanfu lover told reporters. An industry insider said that not only Hanfu, but also imitation and even plagiarism of "popular elements" in the fashion market are common phenomena. Take the horse face skirt as an example, the craftsmanship is almost the same, the main difference is the flower type, "the merchant spends money to ask the artist to draw a flower pattern that is slightly different from the popular style, not exactly the same, but it is the popular look." ”
As far as Hanfu design is concerned, the overall shape is regarded as the soul, which is the core element of traditional clothing culture; Patterns and patterns are the body and the substantive carrier of innovation and creativity. In order to promote original design innovation, in 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Copyright Office established the first comprehensive service platform for Hanfu copyright in China, Shanghai Hanfu Copyright Center. In the eyes of the relevant person in charge, "Hanfu" has always been a social phenomenon-level hot spot, and there are three reasons for this: first, the broad and profound Chinese culture and wonderful Chinese stories are the treasure trove of "Hanfu" fashion topics; Second, there is no restriction on fashion trends, and there is no benchmarking and suppression of international brands, which gives a broad cultural space for the creation of a unique "Hanfu brand"; Third, the rich clothing industry chain and mature clothing industry chain have greatly reduced the entry threshold of "Hanfu design" and "Hanfu industry".
In the current Hanfu market, one is that designers open stores, which are design-centric and take a long time to polish; One is a clothing company, which is dominated by the new rhythm, the designer's time is limited, and the style is relatively decent. Meng Yuecen said that there are only a few businesses in the current Hanfu circle, from design to publicity and operation, sales, upstream and downstream resources are relatively sufficient, "There are not so many small stores with resources, and it will be a little difficult to develop at this stage. Or live streaming or scaling up production. However, the expansion of the Hanfu market represented by the horse-faced skirt "must be a good thing" for large and small businesses, "there is no shortcut to design, and I hope that the market will be more diversified and produce more distinctive crafts." ”
Engaged in clothing restoration for more than ten years, Hu Xiao is happiest to see that traditional crafts have "fed" many people. They look for inheritors of crafts from all over the country, and many places may not be so economically developed, but traditional crafts are better preserved. "Now, some young people don't have to go out to work, and they can earn money from their own crafts in their hometowns. ”
The mid-Ming Dynasty is provided by the Chinese costume restoration team.
Hu Xiao believes that at present, horse-faced skirts are usually used as fashion items, and the concept of traditional clothing needs to be more popularized, so that more people know that Hanfu is not only this style, and the popularity of horse-faced skirts drives other styles. "Clothing is the external manifestation of culture, today is a horse-faced skirt, the day after tomorrow is a round-necked robe, tomorrow is a curved skirt, consumers have a constantly chosen menu, in order to form a long-term benefit. ”
Late Ming Shi ** Bundle, provided by the Chinese costume restoration team.
In his opinion, the horse-faced skirt has achieved the goal of bringing traditional clothing into contemporary life to some extent, but it is not the ultimate goal. "Let the public's interest and love for traditional culture create more jobs, be people-oriented, let the traditional clothing craft form an industry, endlessly, and Hanfu may usher in a real revival." ”
Liberation**·Shangguan News original manuscripts, not allowed without permission**.
Author: Zhong Han, Zhang Yi, Shi Chenlu.
WeChat editor: rong
Proofreading: syl