出身于苏绣世家的时装设计师兰玉，在母亲兰堂花的启蒙下，将传统苏绣与现代时尚设计完美结合，推出了一系列蕴含中国古典诗词和绘画元素的时尚华服。

Born into several generations of embroiderers, fashion designer Lan Yu remembers that her first piece of Su embroidery was a bib made for her by her mother Lan Tanghua, for use as a child at kindergarten.

出身于刺绣世家的时装设计师兰玉，对于自己的第一件苏绣作品——母亲兰堂花亲手为她制作的围兜，至今仍记忆犹新。

"It was embroidered with red and yellow flowers and leaves, which encircled five characters in the center that read 'for little friend Lan Yu', which my mom wrote out on paper before she stitched them," recalls the designer, now in her 30s. "The other children wore plain white bibs, with no patterns. My bib made me feel special, because I had a mother who was so skillful. It showed her deep love for me."

那是她童年时，在幼儿园佩戴的围兜，上面绣着红黄相间的花朵与叶子，中间环绕着“送给小朋友兰玉”五个大字，那是母亲在缝制之前，特意写在纸上的字样。“每当回想起那时，我的围兜总是与众不同，它不像其他孩子那样是纯白的，没有任何装饰。”这位三十多岁的设计师回忆道，“正是这件围兜，让我感受到了自己的特别，因为我有一个如此心灵手巧的母亲。这也体现了她对我深深的爱。”

Su embroidery is ranked among the four most celebrated kinds of Chinese embroidery. Originating in Suzhou — after which it is named — and spreading to surrounding areas in Jiangsu province, Su embroidery requires delicate workmanship, as exemplified by its variety of stitches and strong sense of color. For a long time, this form of artistry was passed down through women in the same family.

苏绣，作为中国四大名绣之一，起源于苏州，而后流传至江苏周边地区。它以针法繁多、色彩感强、做工精细而著称。长久以来，这种技艺都是由同一家族的女性代代相传。

As she studied fashion design, both in China and abroad, Lan Yu has been attempting to blaze new trails for Chinese embroidery and her family heritage, to give the tradition a fresh look more in line with the tastes of the younger generation of customers from around the world.

兰玉在国内外学习服装设计的过程中，一直在为中国刺绣和家族传统探寻新的出路，希望能让这一传统焕发新的生机，更加符合现代年轻一代的审美。

She and her mother are currently sharing the fruits of their explorations at Poetic Charm of Splendid Attire, an exhibition that runs until Monday at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. On show are dozens of recent designs inspired by classical Chinese poetry and paintings, as well as brocade pieces Lan Yu worked on with her mother, which create chemistry between the past and the present.

目前，她和母亲正在北京中国美术馆举办的“诗韵霓裳”展览上，展示她们的探索成果。展览中的数十件作品，灵感均来源于中国古典诗词和绘画，以及她们共同创作的锦缎作品，将古典与现代巧妙地融合，展现了跨越时空的艺术魅力。

"The pieces translate the spiritual world of ancient intellectuals into the context of fashion design, illustrating the lifestyle enriched by natural beauty and contemplation pursued in the poems of Tao Yuanming in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), and the optimism in the verses of Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty (618-907)," says Jia Ronglin, dean of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology.

北京服装学院院长贾荣林评价道：“这些作品将古代知识分子的精神世界巧妙地融入时装设计中，不仅展现了东晋陶渊明诗中追求的自然美和沉思的生活方式，也体现了唐代李白诗中的乐观主义精神。”

Growing up in the world of needlework, as a young teenager, Lan Yu did not think of taking on the family business. Her mother owned an embroidery atelier at the time, but having studied dance for years, Lan Yu hoped to become a dancer. However, injuries forced her to reconsider becoming either a dancer or a dance teacher. Still hoping to engage with art, she enrolled at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology.

在针线交织的世界里长大的兰玉，少年时期并未想过要继承家业。她的母亲当时经营着一家刺绣坊，但热爱舞蹈的兰玉梦想成为一名舞蹈演员。然而，伤病让她不得不重新规划人生。出于对艺术的热爱，她最终选择了服装设计，考入了北京服装学院。

"My mother half-jokingly asked, 'Will you be a tailor? For the rest of your life?' At the time, I felt that fashion design would allow me to imagine as freely as dancing on the stage, while also being a career for life," Lan Yu says.

“母亲曾半开玩笑地问我：‘你会做裁缝吗？一辈子做裁缝？’但我认为，服装设计能让我像在舞台上跳舞一样自由想象，同时也是一个可以终身从事的职业。”兰玉坦言。

During college, she was introduced to different styles of traditional embroidery from around the country, and came to understand the cultural accumulation behind the techniques, including her mother's, and began to feel her generation should take responsibility for keeping these traditions alive by incorporating elements of modern design.

在大学期间，她接触到了各地不同风格的传统刺绣，深入了解了这些技艺背后的文化内涵，包括她母亲所传承的文化。她逐渐意识到，自己这一代人有责任传承这些传统，并将其与现代设计元素相结合。

"I felt that the sleeping part deep in me, the commitment of a craftsperson, had been awakened," she says.

“那一刻，我觉得自己内心深处的那部分——一个手艺人的承诺——被唤醒了。”兰玉感慨道。

For a long time, Su embroidery has enjoyed the reputation of being a kind of three-dimensional painting on silk, as its artisans have invented a variety of stitches to capture the details of real life and of paintings. Lan Yu has stepped to one side of this figurative tradition, and focuses on combining modern aesthetics with the introspective temperament of Chinese culture.

苏绣素来被誉为“丝绸上的立体画”，因为工匠们发明了各种针法来捕捉现实生活和绘画中的细节。然而，兰玉却跳出了这一具象的传统，注重将现代美学与中国文化的内敛气质相融合。

"My needle and thread no longer work together to copy a thing seen in reality, but rather to express structural beauty, a sense of space and of a spiritual haven," she says.

“我的针线不再是为了复制现实中的事物，而是为了表现结构美、空间感和心灵的港湾。”她解释道。

One of the new areas she has been exploring is interpreting the tranquillity, extensiveness and room for imagination found in the pondering of Chinese poetry and landscape paintings. "It's like I'm using stitches to achieve the same sense of liubai ("leaving blank spaces") in Chinese painting, and to provoke thoughts of culture and of the luminous figures in history who contributed to it."

她一直在探索的新领域之一，就是诠释中国诗歌和山水画中的宁静、广阔和想象空间。她试图用针法实现中国画中留白的感觉，引发人们对文化和历史上那些光辉人物的思考。

Lan Yu also blends other forms of handicraft into her work, including the duijin ("accumulated patterns") style of Shanxi province in which decorative motifs are made separately from silk, paper and cotton, and then assembled to create a relief painting. She also used the craft to make the dozens of Yulan magnolia flowers applied to one of the dresses on display, which she calls Mantingfang ("a courtyard full of fragrance") after a tune pattern from classical ci poetry.

此外，兰玉还将其他形式的手工艺融入作品中，如山西省的堆锦风格。她用这种工艺制作了数十朵玉兰花，并将其巧妙地应用在一件礼服上，根据古典诗词中的一个曲调图案，将其命名为“满庭芳”。

Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China and a sculptor in his own right, says that every look on show "can also be appreciated as a sculpture, formed of smooth lines, graceful colors and fine structures". "They stand as vivid, thought-provoking examples of how the spirit of Chinese tradition may live on in the modern world," he says.

中国美术馆馆长、雕塑家吴为山对展览给予了高度评价，他认为每一件作品都堪称雕塑般的艺术品，线条流畅、色彩优美、结构精细。这些作品不仅生动形象，而且发人深省，展示了中国传统精神如何在现代世界中得以延续。

Lan Yu says she plans to take her work on tour internationally to places with booming fashion scenes, such as Singapore, New York, Toronto and Tokyo.

兰玉表示，她计划将自己的作品带到新加坡、纽约、多伦多和东京等时尚之都进行国际巡展，让更多人感受到中国传统刺绣与现代设计的独特魅力。

编辑 | ETTBL商务英语翻译