Modern Myanmar Fashion

by Swe Nwe Hmwe (Moi)

Art work by Emilie Thomsen

Today, Myanmar designers combine the local and traditional Shwe Chi Hto embroidery techniques in their dresses to re-activate traditional art practices. Some norms of traditional design have changed in modern creations to include Shwe Chi Hto on Acheik cloths and lotus thread cloths. Hence, designers like May Myat Waso and Ye Yint Hlaing divided the patterns and chose the relevant composition methods to align with their creations.

MAY MAT WASO

May Myat Waso is the young designer who introduced Myanmar fashion and handicrafts to the rest of the world. She was born in 1984 and started her career as a designer in 2007 with the opening of the tailoring shop "Hearty Heart." In the beginning, she created traditional ethnic dresses in new versions. In 2010, she participated in the Bis & Ball International Fashion Fair in Bangkok. She showcased her collections inspired by Shwe Chi Hto patterns. The combination of traditional Shwe Chi Hto and modern dresses has not been seen before. The floral Kanote patterns from Shwe Chi Htoe were sewn with gold-colored threads on the cot silk fabric blouse and shawl. The foiled setting, sewed-on rhinestones, and other ornaments are accessorized on Kanote patterns. A dancer with a Bagan costume figure was embroidered on the skirt, then cut and appliquéd. Her creation gained media attention and became famous.

Art work by Emilie Thomsen

She explored Myanmar's traditional fashion through modernized gold embroidery dresses and square Pathein umbrellas (cotton fabric and wooden frame) in Indonesia Fashion Week 2018. Accompanying her gold embroidery was a hair knot and ankle ring to reflect the Konbaung era, and the neck rings to highlight Pyu era. She used colorful Nagahta cords to create the Kanote pattern on the satin fabric. She also combined the mantle with fur and big hair pins that referred to Chinese clothing. The patterns on the mantle were decorated with gold wire bullion. The design of the shoulders was copied from the Mahalata coronation dress. The gold thread embroidered short top was very prominent in the show. The hair design on the fan was the hair bun from the Innwa period. The traditional Htamein usually has a long tail; however, she shortened it with a wide opening at the front, so that the Htamein became more convenient for the model to wear.

She created customized dresses using the Shwe Chi Hto technique to create the peacock pattern. Bullions are embroidered, and the shading of the peacock tail is filled with acrylic color. With this design, she wanted to show the prosperity of Myanmar culture and mineral resources. Shwe Chi Hto patterns were recognizable in her creation. At the same time, she also showed accessories from Myanmar history through colour matching. Her intuition about historical clothing and her creative approach of inserting them in modern dresses make her a pioneer in the Myanmar fashion industry. Her designs are meticulous and diligent work that demands time in the making. She remarked that the positive feedback and applause rewarded her time and effort. After her innovation, many Myanmar designers created Shwe Chi Hto costumes in their own way.

Ye Yint Hlaing

YE YINT HLAING

Ye Yint Hlaing is a young embroiderer and designer, whose interest in a remake of the royal raiment made him famous. He conducted intensive research on the mural paintings from the temples, literature, photo documentaries, authentic clothes from the National Museum, and research on the royal family. He reconstructed the princess' royal dress, Malika, an elaborate and elegant design that demands time and high cost. He wanted to reduce the cost as much as possible, substituting sequins, colourful rhinestones, and golden threads instead of the genuine gold threads and gems in the original version. The spangles, rhinestones, brass bells, and other ornaments were sewn with traditional techniques.

In addition, he created many customary dresses using the traditional Shwe Chi Hto technique. The shawl is embroidered with a Gecko palm stitch, six petals' stitches surrounded by quatrefoil stitch. The small gold colour Nagahta cord runs over the spangles and is pulled back with stitches, and is a deviation from the original stitching techniques. The framing pattern of the tapestry is added to this shawl. Between the two framing chords, the six petals' sequins are filled. Combining the colour fabric and his new stitching styles creates a shimmering effect and enhances the dress's grandeur with only Nagahta cords and sequins.

Ye Yint Hlaing

The dress is a bridal dress. On the shawl, the Hamsa bird couples are embroidered with bullion threads. Similarly, the bullion threads are sewn on the blouse and re-patterned on the Acheik line. In traditional embroidery, only the hand-sewing needle is used to decorate everything on the clothes. However, he used a punch hook in this piece. It shows that the designer integrates new tools in embroidery to get accurate traditional patterns and motifs. Thus, he renovates traditional costumes with modern accessories in keeping their original aesthetic senses and applying new tools like hook needles in the embroidery of traditional motifs.

In May Myat Waso and Ye Yint Hlaing's creations, the patterns are not restricted to customary templates; the designers amalgamate them with existing fashion design requisites, make alterations to patterns, and employ abstract expressions to bestow a contemporary allure, simultaneously conveying the artistic splendor.

OTHER SHWE CHI HTO PRODUCTS

Contemporary Shwe Chi Hto stands as a compelling fusion of tradition and modernity. The limited access to Shwe Chi Hto has widened, extending beyond the upper class, through more affordable materials thanks to technological advancement. People are creating new items for their daily lives, applying traditional embroidery to incorporate a sense of cultural heritage. This helps to preserve and ensure its relevance and continuity in modern society. Consequently, the new products take place as souvenirs, embodying artistic craftsmanship and personal memories. For example, the tapestry and kalaga are applied as sofa cushions, bed covers, tissue boxes, and tablecloths.

Contemporary Shwe Chi Hto products include bags, house décor, and souvenirs. Motifs or Kanote floral patterns are mostly sketched and framed with Nagahta chords and filled with colourful beads and sequins. House décor items include tissue boxes, different sizes of cushions, armrests, bed covers, tablecloths, and coasters for glasses. Like the bag patterns, the different kinds of royal Kanote patterns are sketched with Nagahta cords. It is intended to reduce potential harm to the user because the Nagahta cord with stitches is user-friendly for house décor items. Moreover, keychains, coin bags for international markets (Myanmar currency has no coins), and other hanging décor are sold as souvenirs. Horses, elephants, lions, and Pyit Taing Htaung (traditional Myanmar toy that stands upright when put down) are the trend motifs in the hanging décor.

Marriage certificate covers, book covers, bags with high-grade gemstones, authentic gold and silver threads in clothes and shoes, and customized bags for electronic devices are widespread. In the marriage certificate cover, the kinnari-kinara birds couple is a common motif with gold threads. These bird couples represent affection and royalty; the gold colour infers prosperity in married life. The customer can select the font style and sizes. The items are adorned with high-grade gemstones, authentic gold, and silver threads that impart a sense of prestige and exclusivity.

Shwe Chi Hto are made as customized products and the consumer's preferences and budget limitations define the design and cost of ornament. Only the stick needle was used in traditional embroidery; however, today designers use hook needles in embroidering bullion and exclude some traditional stitch techniques. The contemporary Shwe Chi Hto items symbolize luxury, embody cultural values, and evoke the creativity of artisans.

Bibliography

Idea can do Channel. (2017). EP.40-Sein Myint Tapestry [English Subtitle] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0aUYQ_3Egk

Lwin Myanmar (Mandalay University). (2021). မြန်မာ့ရွှေချည်ထိုး [Myanmar Shwe Chi Hto] (1st ed.). Sarpay Beikman.

Sein Myint, Shwe Chi Hto. (2018). ပန်းချီခရီးနှင့် ဘဝရေစီး [A life journey of a painter] (1st ed.). Aye Gabar.

Sulthana, S. R. (2021). EMBROIDERIES AND THEIR TRENDS IN MODERN FASHION A FUSION. International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology, 8(6), 601–606. https://doi.org/10.17148/iarjset.2021.86103.

Thida. Interview. Conducted by Phyo Ei Ko Ko, 14 May. 2021 Wikipedia contributors. (2022). May Myat Waso. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Myat_Waso

Thida. Interview. Conducted by Swe Nwe Hmwe, 25 July. 2019.

Bio

Swe Nwe Hmwe [suɪ nu:ɑm mɔɪ] is a student in the MA in Culture-Language-Media at the Europa-Universität Flensburg. Before this, she studied German and worked in Mandalay, Myanmar. Her academic focus is on preserving the cultural heritage of Myanmar’s ethnic groups, particularly their traditional clothing and textile practices. For her master’s thesis, she is interviewing elders from her ethnic group, the Bualkhaw in Chin State, to trace and document how their clothing practices evolved during the 1900s.