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| Photo taken on January 18 shows attendees at the sweater fashion show in Kaili of Southwest China's Guizhou Province. [CCTF] |
A sweater fashion show titled "Splendid Wool, Heng'ai in Guizhou" was held in Kaili, a city of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, on the night of January 18.
The activity brought together Heng'ai Action and Guizhou's Village T (rural fashion show), adding a new highlight to the public welfare initiative in commemoration of its 20th anniversary and forging a fresh momentum for ethnic unity.
Heng'ai Action is a public welfare program jointly launched by the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) and Shanghai-based wool manufacturer Hengyuanxiang Group in 2005 to rally public support for the assistance of disadvantaged children through the donation of hand-knitted sweaters.
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| Guizhou's Village T models present hand-knitted sweaters. [CCTF] |
During the past two decades, Heng'ai Action has collected and donated sweaters to tens of thousands of children in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and other regions. The sweaters have become a medium to further strengthen emotional bonds and cultural affinity between different ethnic groups across the nation and vividly embodied the fundamental beliefs that the Chinese nation is a family and all ethnic groups should remain as closely united as pomegranate seeds sticking together.
The sweaters presented during the show included the first batch of hand-knitted sweaters, the one millionth sweater, the Olympic-themed sweaters and other commemorative ones under Heng'ai Action. It also displayed limited-edition and cultural-creative sweaters imbued with cultural elements of 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, Miao-style embroidery patterns, Dong-style pleated skirt structures and other intangible cultural heritages. Those sweaters gained new life when they were presented by children on the runway.
The show has underscored the two-decade-long dedication to philanthropic and charitable cause of Heng'ai Action and showcased cultural prosperity deeply rooted in rural Guizhou. During the past years, Guizhou's Village T has drawn wide attention for its exploration of primitive ethnic fashion and aesthetics and the further promotion of cultural tourism industry and developed into a leading brand of rural cultural revitalization.
The collaboration between Heng'ai Action and Guizhou's Village T has represented the innovative endeavors taken by the action to expand its social influences via fashion and the practical efforts made to further enhance social value of intangible cultural heritages, injecting vitality into rural revitalization and ethnic unity.
"We hope that this activity will help the public better realize that the sweaters not only bring warmth to children but also become carriers of cultural affinity and emotional bonds," says Chen Zhongwei, Vice-President of the CCTF, Chairman and General-Manager of Hengyuanxiang Group.
The activity has transcended traditional boundaries of charity. With warm stitches and splendid attires as a brush, it depicts a vivid portrait that people of all ethnic groups remain closely united and support each other, adding a stylish footnote to the cause of ethnic unity and progress.
(Source: CCTF/Women of China)
