Meet Chan MeiYan, Redress Design Award 2019 finalist

Every year, approximately 10.6 million weddings take place in China. “Most wedding gowns begin as rolls of raw, tan-coloured fabric,” reflects designer Chan Meiyan. “These are bleached using energy - intensive processes that consume gallons of water and use harmful chemical compounds that affect factory workers and the environment. I thought, what if just 10 per cent of those brides decided to donate their dresses for up-cycling? For one million wedding dresses of fabric to be reused would have significant impact on the fashion industry’s carbon footprint.” Her collection, ‘Leftovers’, resolves that question, using techniques of reconstruction to transform secondhand wedding dresses into sleek, sharp shouldered shapes that pay homage to the 1980s.

“I was inspired by the second wave of feminism that took Western fashion by storm, breaking ground for women to aspire to new roles in society,” she says. The project reflects Meiyan’s own journey; the designer, who studied at ESMOD, Paris, entered fashion via a childhood obsession with Barbie, but now cites Grace Jones as the person she would most like to dress. For Meiyan, sustainability means longevity. “I aim to extend a garment’s life cycle for as long as possible, reduce over-consumption, re-use garments or textile waste and slow down the environmental and ethical impacts the fashion industry has created.” Each item is multi-functional to prolong its life. “A suit jacket can be turned into a wrap dress for dinner; a top with removable sleeves and hood can be worn across the seasons.” The project does not exclude commerciality. “Sustainability cannot work independently from marketability,” she says. The collection’s title refers both to its raw materials and to the label Chinese women in their late 20s were stamped with, if they remained unmarried. “Nowadays,however,modern Chinese women embrace self-reliance in all aspects of their lives,” says Meiyan, proudly.

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