Models walk the ramp during Chinese designer Guo Pei's first ever runway show in the UK in November, 2019 in London, England. Photo: AFP

Models walk the ramp during Chinese designer Guo Pei's first ever runway show in the UK in November, 2019 in London, England. Photo: AFP

A Chinese fashion show displaying an array of costumes captivated the Egyptian audience who highly admired the Chinese designs, earlier this week.

The show, dubbed "Silk Road Impression China Fashion Show", was held at the open-air theatre of Cairo's renowned Opera House and was attended by dozens of Chinese and Egyptian visitors.

The show, which was organized by the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo, featured a large collection of colorful dresses and costumes representing the essence of Chinese culture. 

Donning colorful attires decorated with Chinese embroidery, Chinese and Egyptian models garnered applause of the audience who highly admired the Chinese costumes.

"The fashion show is really amazing. The dresses are so beautiful and the colors are eye-catching," Mayar Mahmoud, a college student told Xinhua. 

Mahmoud added that it was her first time ever to attend a fashion show, noting that she was lucky enough as it was a Chinese fashion show.

"I loved the dresses, their colors, and styles. They look very traditional, but at the same time they also suit non-Chinese and can be worn on several occasions," the young lady added.

The design and colors of the costume grabbed the attention of both fashion lovers and professional designers. Noted Egyptian fashion designer Hani Beheiri said the show was a good message to introduce Chinese fashion to Egypt.

"I loved this fashion show because it reflected the spirit of China and it is really amazing to have such events in Egypt," the renowned fashion designer told Xinhua.

Beheiri noted that this show helped Egyptians know what Chinese fashion designs look like, adding that the collection was breathtaking. 

"It showed that Chinese women love colorful silk clothes. Although the collection is largely modern, it bears very unique cultural characteristics that took us back to history," Beheiri said. 

Famous Chinese fashion designer and the curator of the show Yang Beibei said the costumes on the show are a series that reflect China's 24 solar terms, which is very important in China's traditional culture.

"I designed one set of clothes for each solar term and decorated them with different flowers and plants according to the seasons. This is very representative of Chinese culture, so I want to show it to the Egyptian friends," she said.

The 24 solar terms, based on the sun's position in the zodiac, were created by farmers in ancient China to guide the agricultural affairs and farming activities.

The 24 solar terms reflect the changes in climate, natural phenomena, agricultural production, and other aspects of human life, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation. 

The solar terms play important roles and have greatly influenced people's basic needs in life, and even today they continue to play an important role.

"I invited six Egyptian models and six Chinese models, reflecting the friendship and cultural exchanges between China and Egypt," she said.

"This is my second visit to Egypt. The last time was for an exhibition. I was very happy this time because I came with my designs," the Chinese designer said.

She stressed that Egypt is a country with an ancient civilization, expressing hope that she could integrate the Egyptian culture with the Chinese culture in future designs.  


Newspaper headline: Chinese fashion shines in Egypt