15-17 October 2025, Zhuhai— The “ICH as Fashion” third workshop “Contemporary Translation of ICH and Fashion: Design Planning, Cultural Innovation, and Industrial Synergy” was organized at the School of Future Design (SFD) of Beijing Normal University. The workshop was organized by UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, hosted by the School of Future Design, with the support from Atelier Wen. A total of 22 ICH bearers, fashion students, and emerging designers under the “ICH as Fashion” programme participated in the workshop.
Prof. Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, emphasized in his opening speech that this workshop “highlights the importance of bridging traditional craftsmanship and modern industry, ensuring that heritage practices remain vibrant and meaningful in today’s world.”
Prof. Gao Peng, Dean of the School of Future Design, in his welcome remarks highlighted the school’s commitment to promoting the development of inclusive creative industries and the continuous innovation of traditional culture. He encouraged participants to break transmission barriers through cross-disciplinary collaboration and revitalize traditional craftsmanship through fashion design innovation.
At the opening ceremony, UNESCO designated the School of Future Design at Beijing Normal University as its 2025 partner for the "ICH as Fashion" Capacity Building Programme.
To conclude the event, participants, accompanied by faculty member Liang Xu from the School, visited the SFD Art Gallery's latest exhibition, "Aesthetic Education Immersion: 2025 PBL Project Outcomes Exhibition".
During the 3-day workshop, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of WOW-TREND, and Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University and China Academy of Art Mr. Li Bing presented on Future Brand-Building of ICH and Craftsmanship and Trend Research and Concept Positioning, dissecting popular trends, consumer insights, and everyday integration of ICH. He also led an exercise where participants created mood board based on cultural storytelling.
SFD lecturer Dr. Liu An introduced the future value of slow fashion and handicrafts, and the correlation of fashion and positive psychology, providing new angles for traditional culture reinterpretation.
One of China’s Top 10 Designers, Vice President of the Guangdong Provincial Fashion Association Mr. Zheng Wei shared industry perspectives and case studies on trends in independent designer brands and brand strategy, as well as innovating with ICH in fashion product design. He guided participants in group activity on creating ICH-inspired fashion product plan and provided feedback to each group presentation.
As a special highlight of the workshop, winner of the 73rd Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Distinguished Professor at the SFD Tim Yip delivered a keynote on “New Eastern Aesthetics and Inspirations for ICH-Fashion”, where he explained the integration of contemporary art and new Eastern aesthetics in film, television, stage plays, and exhibitions.
Participants reflected that this workshop has provided them new perspectives for design and creation. The practical group activity sessions have allowed them to immediately apply the new knowledge learned and closely engage with the facilitators. One participant said, “I particularly agree with the idea brought up by Prof. Yip, that ‘there is no creativity without reason; we always need to refer back to histor’. I’d pay more attention to the balance between exploring cultural roots and modern expression in my future work.”
This workshop, as a further step in the programme exploring the integration of ICH and contemporary fashion, guided participating ICH bearers, fashion students, and emerging designers to examine the contemporary translation of ICH and its application value within the industry chain, emphasizing the integration of cultural innovation and brand thinking in the context of sustainable development.