Art and fashion to touch: Chia Hung Su - Lupe Castro - MsLupeCastro

Visiting Chia Hung Su’s showroom is an explosion of tactile delight above all, where the materials are the protagonists because the colour is mostly neutral: greys, creams, blacks... and some touches of brown, khaki... 

One of the things that have impressed me the most is how successfully he has achieved these colours in a natural way, using fruits and elements of traditional Chinese medicine to achieve tones like the blackish grey that I show you in the gallery. I also highlight his fluid silhouettes.

His most imposing pieces are made of rami and cotton, spun naturally, which he gets directly from the mountainous area near his native environment. In the exhibition, he shows, through a video, how it is done. The texture is incredible in these handmade pieces, each layer of them can take two or three weeks to make.

I also liked the use of vintage fabrics for the lining of the coats and how they stand out from the sleeves. I'm not a big lover of black clothes, but the story behind these pieces is so fabulous that they are true works of art. 

In relation to the trousers, they are fitted, low crotch, traditional riding breeches, with a button fly, using antique coins as buttons, and in some cases, he has also used silver buttons bearing the brand's logo, which also have a sustainable approach in mind, due to the process of making his pieces. He also uses pashmina fabrics, from Kashmir, which he mixes and uses with wool that he boils and thus, creating a new material.

There is a basic range that is made of organic cotton that has many possibilities to play with the other pieces. I have also loved her range of rings, which have fitted my fingers perfectly; they are made with fabric, which he dips in silver and which display the traditional Taiwanese flower, the plum blossom.

I would sum up Chia Hung Su's design as passionate and gentle, for the value that he shows towards his country's heritage and its sustainable character. He invites us to "coexist with the environment and support the culture of minorities", referring to his own manifesto.

With an isolated lifestyle from the modern world, ethnic minorities managed to preserve their exquisite craft skills. It is difficult to survive in the fast-paced digital age. This brand demands a pause in our lives, to rejoice in the celebration of craftsmanship and connection to our land.