Uygurdesignercreatesnewlooks
basedontraditionalclothingstyles
F
ashions change, but the
eyefor beauty never
does.MewlanTuraq
has never seenProject
Runway, a reality tele-
vision seriesfrom theUnitedStates
thatfocuses onfashion design, but
the 26-year-old designer is weaving
his own project to preserve tradi-
tionalUygur costumes.
At his boutique in theOldTown
ofKashgar, XinjiangUygur autono-
mous region, inChina’sfar north-
west,Mewlan sketches a dress in the
sunlight flooding in through a blue
window.When a customer walks in,
he immediately puts down his pen-
cil and recommends they try on the
various floral headwear, dresses and
boots hanging on the walls.
Mewlan’sstoresellsandrentsboth
traditional costumes and modern,
modified pieces thatfeature his
unique designs. He knows the ins
and outs ofthefabric and patterns of
each piece like the back ofhis hand.
Sincechildhood,Mewlanhasbeen
obsessed with the traditional ethnic
cultures ofXinjiang, which is home
to a large number ofethnic groups.
Hedeveloped his love ofmaking eth-
nic costumes thanks to his mother,
AygulKhasim,atailorwhocanmake
both traditional and modern cloth-
ing.
With her help,Mewlan has re-cre-
atedvariouscostumesthat havelong
enjoyed popularity in Xinjiang.Vid-
eosshowcasing the costumes have
even gone viral onChinese social
media,andthatsuccesshasgivenlife
to his long-held dream—to become
afashion designer.
Mewlan has loved designing
things since he was a child.But,
when hisfather got sick, he decided
to study medicine at college. In 2016,
then still a college student,Mewlan
joined “I’mfrom Xinjiang”, a project
by renownedUygur photographer
KurbanjanSamat aimed at record-
ing and promoting Xinjiang’s vari-
ous cultures.
Inspired by the popular100Years
ofBeautyvideo series by theUSsto-
rytelling companyCut.com, which
highlights changes infashion trends
in a country or region over time,
Mewlan and his team released their
own video in 2017 to look back on
trends inUygur women’sfashion
over the past century.
In the two-minute video,Mewlan
illustrated the evolution ofUygur
fashion in his hometownfrom the
1910s to the 2010s.
“We can see that time has leftdif-
ferent marks on our clothes, and dif-
ferent cultures have blended,”Mew-
lan said. From his perspective, the
cultures ofEast andWest have met
and melded in Kashgar, an impor-
tant trading post on the ancientSilk
Road, andthat has shown in the evo-
lution oflocalfashion.
Withoutany professional training
infashion design or dressmaking,
Mewlan asked his motherfor help.
To reproduce all the costumes,Mew-
lan andAygul collected a wealth of
historical documents and old pho-
tos, and visited many old tailors to
gain inspiration.
They spent a whole week mak-
ing theirfirst costume.The cash-
strapped designers had to produce a
prototype using cheapfabrics before
making the real piece. For a while,
Mewlan took a part-time job in a
restaurant simply so he could use
the printer there to print out all the
file photos hefound onlineforfree.
In order to find the best jewelry to
go with the costumes, he visited jew-
elry makers shop by shop to spark
his imagination.Afriend in France
saw one ofhis social media posts
askingfor information about old
Xinjiang jewelry,and later contacted
him to say they remembered seeing
a pair ofold earrings in a pawnshop
inParis.
“Apair ofsilver earrings like that
usually costs 1,000 to 2,000 yuan
($145 to $290), but the pawnbroker
insisted on selling them to me at
a price of4,000 yuan, not a penny
less,”Mewlan said. He had to spend
a large part ofhis savings to get hold
ofthe earrings.
The mother and son spentfive
months sewing dozens ofcostumes,
which are gracef showcased byully
Uygur modelMireayMemetinthe
video.
In another video,Mewlan re-cre-
ates different century-old costumes
that were popular in Xinjiang’s cities
and prefectures.
“I hope I can show the world the
real beauty oftraditional costumes,”
he said. “The pursuit ofbeauty is a
natural and sincere desire ofpeople
inallcountriesandallethnicgroups.
The world is changing.China is
developing, and so is Xinjiang.Achanging society is reflected in local
fashion trends.”
The videos ignitedMewlan’s pas-
sionforfashion, pushing him to
become a designer after graduation.
Hoping he would still become a doc-
tor, his parents strongly opposed his
decision.Aygul even refused to help
him make more costumes.
ButMewlan carried on, anyway.
Having noticed the business poten-
tial behind the growing number of
tourists to Kashgar, he opened his
boutique inOctober. He rents out
all the costumes he and his mother
made, along with the jewelry theyrestored, to tourists who want to
experience the old city as locals. He
also sells handmade floral caps and
purses.
“I hope tourists will not only buy
Kashgar souvenirs, but also expe-
rience thefashion and cultures of
Kashgar. In this old town they can
travel in time,” he said.
After his grandfather visited the
boutique and saw how business was
booming, he helped convinceMew-
lan’s parents that this career path
was the right one.
“Now, they are all supportive of
me,” the young store owner said.“O one fmy biggest successes is
bringing new breakthroughs to my
mother’s tailoring career.”
Aygul now worksfull-timefor
her son, as the ambitious designer
has taken an increasing number of
orders on e-commerce platforms
such asTaobao.Mewlan has also
hired five poverty-strickenfamilies
in rural Kashgar to produce hand-
made accessories, a move that sup-
ports the government’s nationwide
poverty reduction drive.
Without proper training,Mewlan
said his inspiration comesfrom the
city itself.When he wanders down
winding alleys, the shape ofa win-
dow, the patterns ofa carpet or the
wooden carving ofan ornament can
be his muse.
“ThemoreIgettoknowabout
the history ofthe city, the beautiful
stories in it, the more I come to love
it,” he said.
He spends most ofhis spare time
visiting old tailors and craftsmen,
and shopping at flea markets.When
researching, he sticks to old books
and photos,from which he has
drawn the conclusion that clothes
can record history and are a lan-
guage through which different cul-
tures can communicate.
“I care about the cultures, the his-
tory and the aesthetic values behind
the costumes.More importantly, I
would like to see how cultures blend
together and what cultures these
blended elements comefrom,” he
said.
Recently, he has been working on
moderndesigns with traditionalfea-
tures to “promote beautiful Xinjiang
cultures to more young people in a
way they will like”, he said, noting
that mixing modern and traditional
is a good way ofpassing on cultural
heritage.
Mewlan plans to pursuefashion
design studies in thefuture.
“I hope I can come up with more
special designsfor more people who
wouldliketoknowaboutthecharms
ofXinjiang,” he said.
XINHUAApassion
forethnic
fashion
Mewlan Turaq, ownerofaboutiquein Kashgar,XinjiangUygurautonomousregion, attends to a
customerashediscusses theclothingand tailoringofethnic costumes withhis mother,Aygul Khasim.
PHOTOSBYMAKAI/XINHUAThe designerassists withaphoto shootforacustomerfrom theIli
Kazakhautonomous prefectureinXinjiang.Mewlancreates a pattern based on a traditional design.CHINA DAILY GLOBALWEEKLY August 2-8, 2 019 LIFE 27