The Miao is an ethnic minority in China that do not have their own language, but their culture and history remains well-preserved through the distinct designs of their clothing. They have over 200 different clothing styles, all created through batiking and embroidering. The Miao people’s use of geometric patterns is one of the most striking features of their clothing. Between the Past and Present is a collection created by designer Zeng Lu, and shot by photographer Esa Kapila. The collection is a reimagining of traditional Miao apparel. The design manages to exude elegance through an air of simplicity, while still maintaining the cultural characteristics and charm of original Miao clothing. From design to photography, traditional to contemporary, Asia to Scandinavia – this collection is a balancing act that manages to delicately tip-toe between all these different elements with perfect equilibrium.
苗族这个没有自己文字的中国少数民族，得名于将自己的文化和历史精美地展示在他们的服饰中。在他们200多种的服饰里，蜡染、刺绣、几何图案都是其中最为显著的部分特点。《Between the Past and Present》是设计师曾璐是对中国苗族的图案制作传统进行了一次新的工业尝试，并由Esa Kapila摄影呈现的服装系列。这个系列简洁精美，散发着独特的文化魅力。不管是在设计，还是摄影上，传统和现代、东亚和斯堪的纳维亚碰撞的趣味，都在这个系列中达到完美的平衡。
Zeng Lu is an avid fashion designer that only recently moved back to China. In her eyes, the fusion of contemporary and the traditional design is a projection of the globalization evident in our modern lifestyle. Her concept asks the question: “how can we preserve our cultural roots in the current fast-paced societal progression?”
Esa Kapila is a Helsinki-born photographer, who previously studied interior design in Finland and Japan. He has traveled around the globe, and lived in Japan as well as Indonesia. Through his travels, he has attained a better understanding of foreign culture and a refreshed perspective on aesthetics. Esa found Zeng Lu’s project to be very interesting, and was impressed by her professionalism as well as the entire concept behind the collection. After formally introduced through a mutual friend, they collaborated together to present her Between the Past and Present collection in a visually stimulating photoset. Through Esa’s clean photographs, the essence of the collection was captured – revealing the subtle exchange between static and dynamic moments while placing emphasis on Lu’s intricate designs. The clothing and the photographs flawlessly complements one another.
新近返回中国的曾璐，是位服装设计师，曾在芬兰学习工作。在她看来，以现代和传统结合的设计是国际化环境中生活方式的映射，是对在现代社会发展中如何保留我们根基的一种思考。
来自赫尔辛基的Esa Kapila，曾在芬兰和日本学习室内设计。在世界各地的旅行和随后在日本和印尼的居住，给了他了解异域文化和美学的激情。自然，他对她作品的主题热情高涨，而她也认可他的职业和对这个设计系列的理解。于是这两人经友人介绍后便一拍即合，用干净的画面，捕捉静与动的氛围，重笔表现精美的图案，与设计本身相得益彰。
Neocha: Can you tell us about how this collection came about?
Lu: I am from the southern part of China, but lived in Finland. I was inspired by the Scandinavian lifestyle a lot. I saw the way people respected traditions there. Moreover, living so far from China allowed me to observe my culture from a different angle. It made me passionate about creating something based on my own experiences. The first fabric I made myself was a piece of wax-resistant dyeing swatch. It’s the starting point of my design career. I decided to combine my traditional techniques with my understanding of Scandinavian culture. The juxtaposition is exciting to me. On one hand, it’s the style famous for industrial simplicity. On the other hand is a culture that admires extreme exquisiteness. I’ve always been interested in traditional culture and how they work in a modern context. This collection was an experimental project that tries to bring the old traditions into the modern world.
Neocha: 这个系列设计的创意从何而来呢？
曾璐: 来自中国南方的我深受斯堪的纳维亚生活方式启发。我注意到他们对自己传统的尊重。而距离也让我有机会从不同的角度去审视自己的文化。这让我非常想对此做点什么。第一次给自己做的布料是蜡染布样。这是我设计职业的起点。于是我决定要融合这种传统的技术和我理解的斯堪的纳维亚文化。事实上，这两者所产生的冲突是非常激动人心的。一来，这种风格得名于工业上的简单易行；二来，这是种尊重极度精华绝妙的文化。他们共同组成了我的经验。我总是对传统文化有着浓厚的兴趣，也担心在现代社会中他们的情况。我想用这个系列作为一个将传统带进现代社会的实验。
Neocha: How did you decide on a suitable visual style for her collection?
Esa: After seeing Lu’s collection and hearing all of her ideas behind it, we were immediately on the same page on the atmosphere of the photos. Lu showed me the models we were going to work with, and then we looked for the right location that would allow us to use natural light and have ideal textures on the floor and walls. The white cubes emitted the feeling of simplicity, but in a modern way. At the same time, those cubes allowed us to play around with model placement – to effortlessly make the compositions more alive and playful. I understood Lu’s vision on the clothing and how she wanted the girls to showcase them. It was really fun to shoot the collection.
Neocha: 是什么让你决定以这种形式进行拍摄呈现呢？
Esa: 看了璐的系列，听了她背后的创意之后，我们马上就这些照片应该有着什么样的氛围上立刻达成一致。璐给我看了我们将要拍的模特，然后我们找了允许我们利用自然光和地板墙壁有我们想要的纹理的合适的地点。白色方块以一种现代的方式给人一种简洁的感觉。同时，它们与许我们玩转，让模特站在不同位置，构成不同的构图，更加生动，更加富有生趣，但是是一一种不费力的简单方式。在理解了璐关于布料的想法，以及她想让模特展现的方式，最后的拍摄就水到渠成了。
Neocha: Can you tell us about some of the challenges you faced while working on this collection?
Lu: The working process is actually a process that involves solving all kinds of problems. I’d say the most challenging part was the early research stage. Although I’m from China, what I understood about Chinese folk wax-resist dyeing wasn’t in-depth. I needed a deeper understanding but I was staying in another country. This made the work more difficult. At the same time, since my intent was to bring the traditional into the modern world, I needed to figure out how to translate this kind of time-consuming manual technique into highly efficient industrial work. That was when I found out about this ethnic group that didn’t have their own language. Their designs alone communicated plenty – it reveals culture, history, religion, and so on. So I decided to focus on digging up their stories and patterns, to try and create my modern take on it – while also still keeping the essence of their culture. To bring the traditional culture into the industrial world, I decided to employ a modern creation process. Though the collection was finished, it was only the beginning for me.
Neocha: 这个系列中你们遇到最大的挑战是什么？
曾璐: 前期的调查。我虽来自中国，但对中国民间蜡染知之甚少。当我需要更深入更具体地了解它时却身在异邦，这让工作更为困难了。同时，鉴于要把传统带进现代世界，我需要考虑怎将这种旧时作业转化为高效的工业操作。我发现对于一个没有自己文字的民族来说，图案中就包含了他们的文化、历史、宗教等。于是我决定专注于挖掘出图案背后的故事和人物，并试图在保留住传统本质的基础上，根据研究创造出现代的图案。此外，为了将传统文化带入工业世界，我决定用现代制作方式来联系这些传统的东西。这个系列虽然完成了，但是它只是这个话题的一个开端。
Esa: When working with a new team and designer you haven’t worked with or know before, it usually takes some time to get to know one another’s style and ways of working. With Lu, I was surprised how quickly we found common ground and figured out the direction we wanted to go. In these photographs, the biggest challenge for me was to have both natural light and supporting lights to work together. We had a limited amount of equipment, but this also reinforced the simplicity we were looking for. Another funny difficulty was the language! I was the only non-Chinese speaker in our team, so sometimes I found myself in the middle of a brainstorming session in a language I really don’t know
Esa: 和一个你先前并未合作过甚至完全不知道的团队，通常需要一些时间来了解对方的风格和思考方式。我当时被我们这么快就找到共同点、找到我们的工作方向惊讶到。这系列的照片，对我来说最大的挑战就是同时利用自然光和辅助光。我们的器材有限，但是这也倒也和我们要的简单风格相匹配。还有一个好玩的挑战（如果你想这么叫它的话）是语言。我是团队里唯一一个不会讲中文的，所以有的时候我发现我置身于用一个我完全不懂的语言进行的头脑风暴中。
Neocha: What do you enjoy about the collaboration process?
Lu: I enjoyed all of it. The most exciting part for me was the tryouts. We had a lot of ideas, tried many different styles, and discussed how to improve on our ideas. I enjoyed the feeling of being on the same page, working on the same thing, and we basically had no difficulties understanding with one another. Esa worked in a professional way and treated details very carefully.
Esa: This collaboration had all of the elements I love working with: a talented designer with a great point of view, a concept with many strong cultural ties, an inspiring atmosphere, and a friendly team. I learned a lot from Lu, through her aesthetics and approach on directing models. For example, she noticed small details like arm placement.
Neocha: 这次的合作过程中有什么是让你们觉得最为享受的？
曾璐: 我喜欢这个过程中的所有东西。最令人兴奋的是这中间的探索，esa和我有相当多的创意。我们试了不同的风格，互相讨论并改进这些想法。我喜欢我们意见一致，共同为一个东西而工作，我们理解起对方也毫无困难。Esa非常职业，他对待细节非常细心。
Esa: 这个合作有着我爱的所有元素。有好观点、有才华的设计师，和文化紧密结合的对象，启发身心的气氛，一个友好的团队。通过追随璐在知道模特时的美学和手法，我从璐身上学到很多，还有她希望她们怎么摆放她们的手臂等等诸多细节。我想作为团队，我们找到了一个很好又自然的方式一起工作。
Neocha: As you described, this collection “took a new, industrial approach to the traditional patterns created by the Miao people in China.” What do you think of the future of this kind of merging in fashion design?
Lu: We own such ancient and rich culture, but most of them are fading out due to modernization. However, I believe there will come a time when more and more Chinese designers will want to find out who they were and tell the world. I think it is a topic with potential. Currently, I can’t tell how this work will evolve. But I know that this conflict of the new and the old will have people thinking more about the relationship between culture and design. For me, my work is alive. Whether it’s the traditional patterns, or the shapes of collections. They seem to tell a mythical and ancient Oriental story. The way that viewers think about the work is precisely the communication. This interaction breaks through the limitations of time and space.
Neocha: 你说这个系列是“对中国苗族的图案制作传统进行了一次新的工业尝试”。在你看来，服装设计中这样一种结合的未来是什么呢？
曾璐: 我们的文化如此古老和丰富，但多数在现代化的影响下都渐渐消逝。然而，我相信现在正是中国设计师自我探寻并对世界宣告我们身份的时候。总体而言，我认为这是个具有深厚潜力的话题。当下，我很难说这个作品是否包含其中，又或，未来的具体形态会是怎样。但我知道这种冲突能在设计领域给人们带来一股清新的文化思考。于我而言，这件作品就是活的。不管是这个系列的传统图案或是外形，看起来都像是像向人讲述一个古老神秘的东方故事。引发观者的思考就是一种交流。这种互动打破了时空的限制。
Esa tells us, in addition to his current ongoing projects, he has plans of moving back to Asia. He wants to continue his visual exploration of people and culture through portraits and fashion. In the future, Lu plans to continue experimenting and attempt to modernize old Chinese traditions through different pieces of work. Even though the conflicting elements of her work results in unpredictability in the early stages of design, she tells us the challenging nature of her work has shifted her attitude towards difficulties. She now views these challenges as an exciting part of creation.
Esa告诉我们，除了目前手上的个人拍摄项目外，他也在计划搬回亚洲居住，继续用时尚和人物肖像摄影进行对人和文化的视觉研究，并期待几年后可以在中国居住一阵子。曾璐将继续通过不同的尝试，把中国传统带入现代社会中，用多面化的方式去演绎冲突的艺术。这种冲突结果在设计的早期阶段的不可预见性，可以让她面对任何困难和挑战时都保持着兴奋状态。
Website: Between the Past and Present
Contributor: Banny Wang
Images Courtesy of Zeng Lu and Esa Kapila
