As a fashion designer at Glasgow School of Art, I have gained a range of skills in the field of design work on how to simplify complex elements in menswear design, skills that can be very valuable throughout my career. The interdisciplinary nature of the degree is such that I am able to approach the problem with more specialist knowledge.

The theme of my Masters project was to combine traditional Chinese menswear pattern cutting with suit tailoring. During my childhood, my father loved to take me to watch documentaries on historical subjects. So the influence of traditional Chinese official menswear is deep-rooted in me. I wanted to modernise traditional Chinese tailoring through a combination of Chinese and Western design.

Project development

In the early stages of researching this project, I found that I had been struggling to make the norms of masculine dress for formal occasions the subject of my own research. In response I researched the craftsmanship of traditional suits, the making of them, the choice of fabrics. I also researched the silhouettes, fabrics, patterns, techniques and colours of traditional Chinese menswear through the use of photographic information and 3D displays in ancient Chinese museums. The research revealed that the traditional Chinese pattern process is – one piece. As a result, I have designed a series of one-piece pattern menswear which combines key elements of traditional Chinese and Western dress and patterning techniques to modernise traditional Chinese silhouettes.