Skip to main content

Taipei Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2023 Opens with “CrossLab: Dialogue Between Traditional Performance, Craftsmanship and Fashion” Runway Show

Taipei Fashion Week opened its Autumn/Winter 2023 season on March 22nd with “CrossLab: Dialogue between Traditional Performance, Craftsmanship and Fashion,” a themed group show highlighting the collaboration between 7 fashion designers and 7 traditional craftsmen and performing artists.


BOB JIAN with Zhen Shou Temple Wu Jing Tang Folk Parade Club @bobjian

The opening show represents the DNA of what Taipei Fashion Week stands for—where fashion is more than being part of an economic system, and allows us to connect with our culture and history. 


TANGTSUNGCHIEN with Tung-Hua shadow puppet theatre @tangtsungchien_studio


The show was held in front of Nankunshen Daitian Temple in Tainan, with 360 years of history, Nankunshen Daitian Temple represents local Taiwanese life, but also the most essential fashion elements in each crucial historical moment. The core of contemporary Taiwan fashion is derived from traditional craft culture, making Nankunshen Daitian Temple the perfect backdrop to display collections that pay homage to the preservation of tradition in modern day. 


JUST IN XX with traditional temple painter Wu-Nan Zhuang @justinxx_official

Familiar fashion designers took part in this year’s show, resulting in a unique and brilliant look into the future of fashion. 


YENLINE with paper sculptor I-Chang Chen

The show is the third in a trilogy of crossover collaboration at Taipei Fashion Week between contemporary fashion designers and traditional craftsmen, following the crossover of contemporary visual art in SS22 and the crossover of indigenous crafts of master craftsmen in SS23. 


GIOIA PAN with Taiwanese opera master Mei-Yun Tang @gioia.pan

As with the previous crossover shows, this year’s opening show seamlessly blends art, craftsmanship, culture, and fashion to show new and exciting propositions for modern Taiwanese designs. Taipei Fashion Week continues to move forward steadily with an emphasis on Taiwan cultural pride as part of its plan to create an interdisciplinary fashion culture.


C JEAN collaborated with lacquer artist Ching-Shuang Wang @cjean_official

The goal is to create a legacy where art and culture fuse in contemporary popular clothing, combining fashion with fields such as film, drama, popular music, performing arts, and traditional crafts. 


WEI TZU-YUAN with Hsia-Sheng Chen, traditional knotting master @wei_tzuyuan

Ultimately, Taipei Fashion Week aims to become an influential force of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion on an international stage and become synonymous with a respect for craftsmanship, cultivating talent, and driving endless creativity. Following the opening show, Taipei Fashion Week will continue through April 8th.

Most Popular

Fashion For a Cause: Brands That Stand with Palestine and the history of fashion as a form of Activism

by Oana-Maria Moldovan For over two months, there has been an ongoing genocide war in Gaza. To simplify a long and horrific issue, the situation that started, on a larger scale, around one hundred years ago, and has only become amplified since October 7th 2023. Taking place around the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Israel–Lebanon border, the armed conflict is between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups.  The problem is about “stolen” land. Said land is seen as an important holy part of both religions involved. But really, how holy can we consider a land to be, if people kill other people for it? It’s important to remember that this genocide is about three things: forced occupation, zionism, and religion. It’s also important to remember what ethnic erasure is. This terrible expresion, also known as cultural or ethnic assimilation, refers to the process by which the distinct cultural or ethnic identity of a particular group is gradually diminished or erased, often due to ext

‘Make Tattooing Safe Again’: Sheffield Based Tattoo Artist Exposed for Indecent Behaviour

 by Emily Fletcher TW: SA, Animal Abuse, Transphobia Photo Credit: @ meiko_akiz uki Recently, an  Instagram account  has been created to provide a  ‘space to safely give a voice to those who want to speak out about the behaviour of one, Sheffield based tattoo artist’. A  total of 40+ posts have been made by the above social media account regarding  one of Sheffield's most popular tattoo artists .  Thankfully, all posts are prefaced with a Content Warning prior to sharing screenshots of the messages that have been sent anonymously to the page. The majority of Content Warnings refer to sexual behaviour, abuse, and sexual assault. It is clear that there is a reoccurring theme within each submission, as many clients appear to have had the same experiences with the tattoo artist. Women, mostly, are being made to feel uncomfortable while being tattooed. One of the most vulnerable positions anyone can be in, tattoo artists should make their clients feel comfortable and safe during the pro

Now What? The Aftermath of the 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl'

by Susan Moore Here is a bit about me: I am an open, excitable, creative AFAB who is also moderately attractive. I have a unique sense of personal style and a personality that on the surface can only be described as “bubbly” and “quirky”. For this reason, dating is a nightmare. To be sure, I do not have a hard time finding dates or potential suitors. The problems arise when said dates spend some time with me and decide that I am a rare specimen, and the connection they feel with me is “unlike anything they have felt before”. Then, things go one of two ways.  Either a) they decide I am too high maintenance and no longer palatable, or  b) they choose to never look further than the surface and are content to date the idea of me rather than the real me. There is something rather interesting, perhaps funny, about my situation. It is in no way unique. I have met so many people who constantly dealt with the same problem. Even funnier still, is the fact that there is a trope that simultaneousl