Metallic Sound Hometown of Gambiered Canton Gauze in 2018 China Fashion Week

By Qingxin PENG

In the past few years， it has been a period of rapid development of Chinese fashion design. What is the gap between Chinese fashion design and the world？ Todays answer is very different from the past. In fact， designers imagination and taste of materials are important design features. More and more fashion designers do not satisfy to the textiles which are offering in the market. The comfort and the function of textile materials， as well as the intentional pursuit and accurate expression of cultural and artistic attributes， have been making the fashion design mature and looking to the future.

The textile industry is keen to modify conventional means of dyeing for a green production by new manufacturing technology and the pursuit of comfort， functionality， modern products. Starting with chemical and physical coating technology， Prof. Kinor JIANG from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University， committed to metallic textile design research. His research team pioneered the development of anhydrous coating process for various surface changes towards sustainable textile production technology with the supports from The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel and textile industries including Royal Success （Asia） Limited.

After nearly a decade of research， a Roll-toRoll Magnetron Sputtering System for efficiently producing functional and decorative textiles has been developed and trial metallising textile production as the world first production line in 2014.The main principle behind this system is based on sputter coating technology and stenciling， which integrates winding and deposition by coating a variety of metal targets to produce continuous superior metallic textiles. The coated textiles remain a soft handle with uniformly coated metals， multilayers of metals， alloys， and metal oxides. With the coating of metallic nano-films， the coated textiles present various metallic patterns and specific functional properties. A series of multi-functional properties were determined such as UV protection， antistatic， heat shielding， air-permeability， water repellent and anti-bacteria.

On Oct. 29th， entering the fashion show for the first time， a new metallised gambiered canton gauze fashion design collection collaborated by Kinor JIANG （textile designer） and Hui JIN （fashion designer） co-presented in 2018 China Fashion Week at Banquet Hall， Beijing Hotel. The fashion designs are not only an attempt to present metallic textiles， but also a close combination of design and latest technology in fashion design. The traditional silks coated with metals exhibit a colourful reflected colour. Seeking an armour effect more than intangible shimmer， the coated gambiered fabrics still retain the original natural texture and silk quality. In the Hometown of Gambiered Canton Gauze story， vintage Chinese style and minimalist fashion vied with the fanciest gambiered silk for attention in shimmer in daytime glamour or night-time glow. The works presented in the show are exactly what designers expect from the sound of metal on the garments.

Fashion designs are based on the natural expression of professional cognition and self-design concept. The designers believe that the side by side of textiles and clothing is the foundation of fashion creation. In effect， styling options which stem from textile innovations represent more choices and more values for designers and manufacturers. Focusing on such a pragmatic spirit， we are looking forward to the future of fashion.