Ma Ke (fashion designer)

Ma Ke (born 1971 in Changchun, China) is a Chinese fashion designer. She has two clothing labels: EXCEPTION de Mixmind, a ready-to-wear line started in 1996 and retailed in China; and WUYONG, an haute couture line founded in 2006. In 2007, Ma Ke starred in the award-winning documentary Useless by Chinese director Jia Zhangke. In 2008, her fashion house WUYONG was appointed as a Guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in France.[3][4]

Ma Ke designs have been worn by the Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan, on several occasions.[5]

Ma Ke is the founder of Mixmind Art & Design Co, Ltd., based in Guangzhou, China. She currently works in her studio in Zhuhai on the southern coast of Guangdong province.[6]

Career

WUYONG

In 2006, Ma Ke founded a new fashion label, WUYONG (simplified Chinese: 无用; traditional Chinese: 無用; pinyin: wúyòng), which literally means Useless. Ma Ke's workshop in Zhuhai, which produces the WUYONG collections, employs a team of workers skilled in traditional clothing manufacturing techniques. All stages of production are done in-house, including the spinning, weaving, dyeing and sewing; even using traditional equipment such as a Chinese loom dating from the 19th century.[6] Some of the articles in the collections either incorporate or are fashioned out of recycled material and found objects, including a paint-covered sheet made into a dress and an old tarpaulin constructed into an over-sized coat.[7]

Paris Fashion Week

In 2007, Ma Ke was invited to present her first collection, titled WUYONG/the Earth, at Paris Fashion Week.[11] The show was held in the gymnasium of the Lycée Stanislas on February 25, 2007. Rather than presenting the collection on a catwalk as in a traditional fashion show, Ma Ke had the models stand motionless on tall, illuminated plinths, which were arranged on the gymnasium floor. The audience was invited to walk amongst the models and examine the clothing up-close. The show was a triumph: Elle magazine called Ma Ke's Paris debut "brilliant... one of the great moments of the season."[13]

The collection was later put on display at the gallery Joyce Palais-Royal from March 1 to April 6, 2007.[11]

WUYONG was the subject of a film about the Chinese garment industry by the award-winning director Jia Zhangke. The documentary, also titled Useless, features interviews with Ma Ke as well as her show at Paris Fashion Week. The film went on to win the Orizzonti Doc Prize at the 64th Venice Film Festival in 2007.[14][15]

Ma Ke is not the first Chinese fashion designer to show at Paris Fashion Week. That distinction belongs to the designer Frankie Xie and his label JEFEN, which had its Paris debut in 2006.[16]

Fashion in Motion

In 2008, Ma Ke was invited to reprise WUYONG/the Earth as part of the Fashion in Motion live catwalk events held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.[7] Three performances were given in the Raphael Gallery on May 16, 2008. Concurrently, a piece from the collection was on display in the museum's China Design Now exhibition, where Ma Ke was featured along with two other Chinese fashion designers, Zhang Da and Wang Yiyang.[17][18]

Paris Haute Couture

In May 2008, WUYONG was appointed as a Guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Her collection, titled WUYONG/Qing pin, was shown in the Jardin du Palais-Royal in Paris on July 3, 2008.[19] There were a number of elements of the performance that made Ma Ke's haute couture debut rather exceptional. The collection was shown outside and in public (most couture shows are strictly invitation only). For models Ma Ke selected a diverse group of modern dancers, martial artists and tai chi practitioners, and in lieu of walking down a runway had them perform a choreographed piece by the renowned Chinese dancer Shen Wei.[6] Ma Ke invited a Mongolian singer to perform a capella for the show, and brought two seamstresses from her Zhu Hai studio to work a traditional spinning wheel and loom during the performance.

Ma Ke's haute couture debut made the front page of Le Monde.[20] The President of the Fédération française de la couture remarked of the show, "We are witness to the birth of a true talent."[21]

birth date	1971 (age 55)
birth place	Changchun, Jilin province, China
label name	EXCEPTION de Mixmind, WUYONG
awards	2008 Prince Claus Award‡R1R‡ 2007 Best Asian Fashion Designer, ELLE Style Awards (Hong Kong)‡R2R‡ 2006 Best International Chinese Fashion Designer, Modern Media Weekly Awards 2005 Best Original Creator, China Fashion Designer Awards (Beijing) 2005 Best Fashion Designer of the New Generation, Shanghai International Fashion Culture Festival
education	Suzhou Institute of Silk Textile Technology
occupation	Fashion designer
website	http://mixmind.com

Ma Ke (fashion designer)

Career

WUYONG

Paris Fashion Week

Fashion in Motion

Paris Haute Couture

Publications

External links

References