An avant-garde Chinese designer and Istituto Marangoni The Milan School of Fashion alumni, the founder of the accessory brand CI CI CHEUNG, Xi Jiang, was recently invited to present her Spring Summer 2016 collection at the Palace Museum in Beijing's Forbidden City, making hers the first Chinese label to put on a show in the prestigious premises. The event, organized in cooperation with the Forbidden City Academy, was named CI CI CHEUNG ORIGIN and divided in two parts. The first one, “Products Launch and Appreciation”, displayed the SS 2016 collection, filled with the mix of oriental and western influences typical of Jiang's style. The second part, “Craft Static Show" of Innovation and Heritage,” testified of the designer's incessant effort of helping ancient traditions survive; hosting a duo of embroiders (mother and daughter) in from the Yao district, a remote, impoverished and mountainous region inhabited by an ethnic minority, who amazed the public with their extraordinary craftsmanship skills. To emphasize and innovate traditional Chinese arts and crafts, integrating them with contemporary art and advanced technology, has always played a primary role in Jiang's aesthetics. Full of talent and desire for innovation, for SS 2016 she drew inspiration from the Palace Museum's collection of ancient artworks to shape her own interpretation of the traditional oriental spirit, influenced by the essence of Chinese culture but steeped in the western education to arts and fashion received in her years at Istituto Marangoni. The event also saw the participation of Hao Fangyuan, a contemporary artist invited to perform live music as an example of his “Art Integration” philosophy, finding a perfect match for his sound in Ci Ci Cheung fashion and offering to the audience an unforgettable audio-visual experience.