Wenyue Zhang
farewell to my concubine
This collection is inspired by the movie Farewell My Concubine (1993). This movie, directed by Chen Kaige, was popular with and had an effect on a generation of young people during the 1990s. The film tells the stories about the pursuit of the quintessence of art during an artist’s life. Running through the film is the Peking Opera also known as Farewell My Concubine.
“ Yet I am by nature a boy, not a girl.” This is a line recited many times throughout the movie. The line has different meanings. In the Peking Opera “ yet i am by nature a girl, not a boy,” relates to the movie’s actor Dieyi who is dressed as a woman, he is boy but in the Peking Opera he acts the part of a girl. This is a very famous role in Peking Opera ‘female of the coquettish type’, my inspiration also comes from this. My final collection combines the integration of men’s elements in womenswear, such as the tie, use of soft fabric like cotton gauze combined with the oversize silhouette.
The silhouette’s inspiration is from the Chience Opera costume combined with sportswear. According to the A&M’s 2016 fashion trend, I chose the Bomber Jacket, Hoodie and some basic sportswear silhouettes. Combining this with Chinese Opera costumes, I have created a unique style that is more bold in choice of the colour. The use of a mass of pink, is inspired by the orchids (the character Leslie’s favourite Flowers). The collection’s oversized, long and very big silhouette is inspired by the Chinese Opera costume combined with Leslie’s ideas of paradise.