English version
In the first round of interventions, I worked with stakeholders to identify and debate Chengdu’s cultural symbols: hotpot, pandas, teahouses, mahjong, night markets… These elements already reflect ways of living. But to move from “cultural perception” to “fashion identity,” I needed to take a crucial next step—Cultural Translation into Fashion Language.
The core idea here is to distill the symbols that emerged during the card game and cultural dislocation sessions, and transform them into a design vocabulary that could be used in clothing or visual expression. In other words, moving from abstract cultural symbols to tangible fashion language requires both formalization and emotional translation.
Possible Formal Translations (works in progress)
- Hotpot → red as a dominant color, circular structures inspired by the shared table, sheer fabrics evoking steam.
- Mahjong tiles → geometric block prints, highlighting rhythm and order.
- Panda → bold black-and-white contrasts, plush textures for strong visual impact.
- Teahouses → wood tones, woven bamboo textures, silhouettes echoing vintage furniture.
- Night markets (despite their controversy) → lantern motifs, neon-inspired palettes, layered stall-like structures.
These translations aren’t meant as mechanical one-to-one matches. Instead, they extract the essence from stakeholders’ narratives. For instance, hotpot isn’t just food—it symbolizes lively gatherings. That energy should inform choices in color and fabric. Teahouses, with their bamboo and wood, embody slowness and calm, which can be conveyed through texture and form.
Emotional Tagging (also in progress)
Beyond physical form, I’ve also been experimenting with turning cultural atmospheres into emotional attitudes for fashion:
- Chill → Teahouse, symbolizing ease and composure.
- Lively → Hotpot, expressing collectivity and energy.
- Rebellious → Street basketball, graffiti—markers of youth identity.
- Hidden → Night markets, carrying a sense of mystery and liminality.
By abstracting cultural moods into emotional codes, Chengdu’s fashion identity is no longer just about “visual motifs.” It begins to expand into a mix of lifestyle and spirit.
Through this process, I’ve started to build a bridge: from cultural perception → symbolic distillation → fashion translation. It’s not just a design experiment, but also a research method. It forces us to think about Chengdu’s cultural symbols on multiple levels—not only as everyday objects, but also as visual markers and, more profoundly, as a collective urban attitude.
Chinese Version
在第一轮的干预中，我和 Stakeholders 一起识别并讨论了成都的文化符号：火锅、熊猫、茶馆、麻将、夜市……这些元素本身就是生活方式的映射。但要将“文化认知”转化为“时尚身份”，就需要进入一个更关键的环节——符号转译（Cultural Translation to Fashion Language）。
这一步的核心思路是：将 Stakeholders 在游戏和文化错位环节中提出的元素，提炼成可以在服装或视觉中使用的设计语言。换句话说，从抽象的文化符号到具象的时尚表达，需要一次“形态化”与“情绪化”的转译。
可能的符号形态化（正在尝试中）
- 火锅 → 红色的主色调、圆桌的结构感、蒸汽般的半透明面料；
- 麻将牌 → 几何方块印花，强调逻辑秩序感；
- 熊猫 → 黑白撞色、大面积毛绒质感，营造强烈视觉对比；
- 茶馆 → 木色调、竹编纹理、复古家具的线条轮廓；
- 夜市（尽管争议大） → 灯笼图案、霓虹灯色彩、层叠摊位的构造感。
这些转译结果不是机械的符号对应，而是从 Stakeholders 的叙事中抽取的精华。例如，火锅不仅是食物，还意味着社交的热闹氛围，所以它的颜色和质地选择需要体现“聚会的能量”；而茶馆的竹与木，则代表一种“慢”的生活节奏。
情绪标签化（正在尝试中）
除了物理性的形态化，我目前还尝试提炼情绪氛围作为时尚态度：
- Chill → 茶馆，象征闲适、从容；
- 热闹 → 火锅，群体性、能量感；
- 叛逆 → 街头篮球、涂鸦，年轻一代的身份表达；
- 隐秘 → 夜市，带有神秘、边缘的文化气息。
我希望通过将文化氛围抽象为情绪态度，成都的时尚身份就不再停留在“视觉元素”，而是扩展为“生活方式+精神气质”的组合。
通过这一过程，我建立起了一个桥梁：从文化认知 → 符号提炼 → 时尚转译。这不仅是设计方法的尝试，更是研究方法的一部分：它迫使我们思考成都的文化符号在不同层级上的意义——既是日常物件，也是视觉符号，更是一种城市态度。
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