The auspicious dragon presents auspiciousness, and everything is renewed. It’s the second day of the Lunar New Year in the Year of the Dragon. Let’s “ask” the Dragon in the Year of the Dragon. Appreciating dragon lanterns and dragon and lion dances are a lively celebration of the Chinese New Year. Wherever there are Chinese people, there are dragons. The dragons on the streets and temple fairs are winding and soaring; the dragons on utensils and buildings, and the dragons in ink paintings are noble and elegant. This is the spirit and charm of the Chinese nation. In recent years, the national trend represented by Hanfu has continued to gain popularity, and the reappearance of the "dragon" in the Year of the Dragon has also allowed more designers and businesses to use the dragon, a traditional cultural element with unique Chinese characteristics, through New designs and new expressions are integrated into modern life. Dragon clothing, dragon pendants, and dragon toys. The colorful and creative dragon elements not only bring about a consumer boom, but also lead a wave of cultural boom.
How does traditional dragon culture "light up" the Year of the Dragon Lantern Festival?
During the Spring Festival, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched the nationwide "Lighting up Chinese Lanterns"-Year of the Dragon Lantern Festival to welcome the New Year event in accordance with traditional customs. In the old town of Huangyan in Taizhou, Zhejiang, a team of designers designed and transformed traditional lanterns based on intangible cultural heritage. When lanterns meet the Year of the Dragon, what kind of national trend will they light up?
The theme of the Huangyan Lantern Festival is "Yongning Song Dynasty Culture for a Thousand Years Over the Year of the Dragon". Thousands of Song-style palace lanterns turn the old town of Wudongqiao with a history of thousands of years into a trendy place during the Spring Festival. The most eye-catching thing is the dragon on the venue. Elements of design.
Designer Jin Jian:
In the middle is a huge dragon head made into a lamp, and then the main elements are taken from traditional Chinese New Year paintings, as well as shadow puppets. Then it is a style that is very popular among young people. It is relatively not very traditional and is a bit more abstract.
The designer took advantage of the shape of the five-hole bridge and connected colored light strips on the bridge to make the entire ancient bridge look like a dragon swimming on the water. The large dragon boat lantern at one end of the bridge is a popular place for everyone to take photos. The idea of this group of lights comes from an ink painting of a dragon boat from the Song Dynasty.
After the designer's ingenuity and traditional lantern production techniques, a Song Dynasty dragon boat painting appeared in front of us. In addition to ancient paintings, paper cutting, porcelain, clothing patterns, murals, etc. are all sources of inspiration for their design of dragon shapes.
Where does the design inspiration for the trendy toys for the Year of the Dragon, which is more nationally trendy and fashionable, come from?
Celebrating the festive season and admiring the bright lanterns, what is the concept behind the trendy designs for the Year of the Dragon at the Lantern Festival Market? What kind of consumption trend does it show?
Fashionable-looking designs such as the cute door-god refrigerator magnets, multi-functional faucet gift bags, and various patterns all contain the genes of traditional Chinese craftsmanship.
Designer Zhong Wen:
In fact, we played with it in many places when we were children. Under the hands of traditional craftsmen, it can be turned into 72 times. There are many, many shapes in it, such as peacock flowers and morning glory flowers, and the tiger's mouth, the eagle sleeps, it can keep turning and turning.
By combining traditional tumbling with paper art, you can create beautiful and fun tumbling dragons and cardboard dragons. This cool-looking cardboard box is also a toy that requires DIY assembly. Its pattern comes from the dragon elements in Sanxingdui and Hongshan cultures, and the color draws on the high-saturation combination of shadow puppets.
In addition to being a headband that can be played with, it can also be used as a nest for small pets at home. This ingenuity is reflected in the various trendy toys they design. These continuous design inspirations are based on the craft records and research they have done in nearly a thousand villages across the country over the past ten years.
Designer Zhong Wen:
We adhere to the traditional foundation, and then constantly transform it, and then create a batch of works suitable for us of all ages to eat, play and play. We hope to make traditional culture more trendy, fashionable and cool, so that more young people can like to consume it and have more connections with our lives.
How does the national trendy horse-faced skirt show off its "tricks" in the Year of the Dragon?
After looking at the trendy toys, let’s look at the clothing. The popular horse-faced skirt is developed from the spiral skirt of the Song Dynasty, and embodies a unique oriental charm. When the horse-faced skirt meets the Dragon Year in Jiachen, what kind of "tricks" does the Dragon Show show?
During the Spring Festival, buying new clothes to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new is a ritual for many people. This Year of the Dragon ritual has a new trend, and various horse-faced skirts have become the "New Year's shirt" for many young people. At various Spring Festival “flower markets” on the streets in Guangdong, Fujian and other places, horse-faced skirts and colorful flowers complement each other, becoming a beautiful scenery during the Spring Festival.
Fashion designer Lin Qi has a collection of nearly a hundred horse-faced skirts from various eras, many of which have exquisite dragon-shaped embroidery. She told reporters that the changes in dragon-shaped embroidery styles in different periods can also be seen in these traditional horse-faced skirts.
On the basis of traditional styles and techniques, new elements and designs are added to explore the integration of traditional clothing and modern life. In September 2023, Lin Qi brought the horse-faced skirt design work to Paris Fashion Week and presented it in the international fashion show, showing the unique oriental aesthetic charm.
How can Xiaoke's reborn Xiaolong gold jewelry be used as a "conspicuous package" for gifts?
During the Spring Festival, gold bars and gold jewelry also set off a consumption boom, and gold jewelry and gold bars related to the zodiac dragon became the most popular items. Let's go to Guangzhou to see how Xiaoke's reborn Xiaolong gold jewelry became a "conspicuous package" for Spring Festival gifts?
Some jewelry brands in Guangzhou also launched promotional activities years ago to attract consumers to come and "gold hunt". It is reported that the gold most sought after by consumers is the transport beads and pendants containing elements of the Year of the Dragon.