Found in Translation Inline
Photo: Marcio Madeira1/11Yves Saint Laurent, Fall 2004
"Yves did a Chinese collection in 1977 that was really the point of departure for me when I began designing my Chinese collection. I was also watching Wong Kar Wai s In the Mood for Love over and over again that year. I adore his films, and the soundtrack to that film was what I ultimately used as the music for the runway show of that collection. The film The Last Emperor was also quite inspirational to me, and many of the images from that film were on my design board that season. The yellow sequin evening dress that is in the exhibit was in fact inspired by one of the last emperor Puyi s robes." —Tom Ford
Photo: Marcus Tondo / GoRunway.com2/11Vivienne Westwood, Spring 2012
"I have one or two treasures. They are my Chinese vases, which I bought in Hong Kong. Chinese scholars would sit all day meditating and discussing a Ming vase. When I go to New York, I sometimes spend three days on end looking at the collection of Chinese paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have such a vast archive they can change the exhibition so that I always see new things." —Vivienne Westwood
Photo: Monica Feudi / Feudiguaineri.com3/11Jason Wu, Fall 2012
"As designers, we look to visuals for inspiration. And China is a very visual culture. There are so many subjects, from the different dynasties to the textiles to the different techniques. It s a subject that s intriguing for people, especially for Western designers that haven t grown up seeing it. You want to look outside of your box sometimes." —Jason Wu
Photo: Yannis Vlamos / InDigitalteam | GoRunway4/11Giambattista Valli, Fall 2013 Haute Couture
"Being Italian, I was born with the dream of Marco Polo traveling from Venice through the Silk Road and back again, but I was never literal and unvarnished about the aesthetics of it in my work. China is an inspiration that I like traveling through the threads of my clothes, not on them in a tangible way." —Giambattista Valli
Photo: Marcus Tondo / Indigitalimages.com5/11"When I travel to any city, I try to look into whether there are any chinoiserie sites to tour, like the Chinese Tea House on the grounds of Frederick the Great s summer palace outside Potsdam; Catherine the Great s Orangery in Saint Petersburg with its shimmering glass bead walls; or the fabulous Banqueting Rooms at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. My enthusiasm can also be seen at home. One room in my apartment is filled with my collections of Chinese bric-a-brac, displayed on antique mother-of-pearl inlay furniture, surrounded by hand-painted peony tree wallpaper on silver foil." —Anna Sui
