China's Tribal Fashion Point

If you look deeply on the customs and traditions that have been in practice by the 56 Chinese tribal groups, you will be surprised that a great part of them are reflected in the fresh brand of clothing, which people from all over the world use today. A visit to Beijing's Museum of Ethnic Costumes, a fantastic ethnic show of Chinese clothing, gives an entertaining trip down the line. Curator Yang Yuan boastfully declared that she was able to put together the whole collection of Chinese clothing, from clothes to ornaments to accessories to embroideries, and she has indeed rightfully done so. The clothing and accessory line's elegant designs relate the traditions, customs, and myths behind each of the featured minority groups, and interestingly, the patterns that are being used in fresh clothing can be traced through the displays.

Unfortunately, the modernization of the world provoked even the residents of far flung areas to make life simpler, in more ways than one -- embroideries are being displaced with prints, fish skin cloth-making, which is originally done by the Hezhe locals, is slowly being forgotten. Yang is using her staggering display of ethnical pieces to remind China's groups of sticking to their roots while providing an inspiration to the subsequent fashion collections of the world.