As the trend of Chinese style gains momentum, Chongming's native cloth is no longer just an old item stored at the bottom of the chest, but often becomes a source of inspiration for designers, constantly colliding with new things to create sparks. Recently, the 2024 World Design Cities Conference, co-hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Government and UNESCO, was held in Shanghai. At the exhibition, the famous sports shoe brand "Warrior" and the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts under Shanghai University jointly released 12 intangible cultural heritage (ICH) innovative sneaker products. Among them, the ICH innovative sneakers launched by the Warrior brand in combination with "Chongming native cloth" became a highlight.

This pair of native cloth sneakers innovatively applies ICH elements to the classic design of the Warrior brand, cleverly using Chongming native cloth as the shoe upper while retaining the design of fashionable sports shoes, which is refreshing. "I didn't expect that native cloth and sneakers would match so well, and they are quite fashionable," the exhibition visitors exclaimed, with the old craftsmanship showing new vitality.

The provider of the Chongming native cloth used for making the shoe upper is the Kapok Blossom Creative Workshop located in Shuxin Town. "Initially, we received an invitation from Warrior, hoping to collaborate on a cross-border creative fashion sneaker. After hearing about it, we thought the idea was great, so we selected suitable native cloth patterns and provided them to Warrior, who then worked with the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts to design and produce them," said Song Rongyao, the person in charge of the workshop. "The sneakers turned out very well, not only suitable for daily wear but also capable of becoming a highlight of traditional culture at festivals and celebrations. We may start with a small batch production first."

Song said that Chongming native cloth has once again found a new application scenario, making the sneakers not only practical but also rich in cultural connotations and artistic value, which has opened up new ideas for the rejuvenation of native cloth.

The people of Chongming have been tirelessly exploring how to better inherit and promote the culture of native cloth, trying to use modern design concepts to showcase the strong nostalgia contained in the native cloth. In 2015, the weaving technique of Chongming native cloth was officially included in the representative projects of Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage. With the support of government departments and all sectors of society, the rescue work of native cloth began, and the native cloth gradually regained new life. In recent years, with the rise of Chinese style, cultural and creative products have attracted much attention, and with the continuous increase in national support for ICH, "inheritors" are full of energy, and more and more creative native cloth cultural and creative products have been born.

As a well-known native cloth cultural heritage base on Chongming Island, the Kapok Blossom Creative Workshop continues to explore the cross-border integration of Chongming native cloth with different fields, launching creative ICH cultural and creative products, and endowing ICH with new vitality through design. After the native cloth products produced by the workshop were released online, they attracted the attention of many big brands. "We have always been committed to the inheritance, protection, and revitalization of Chongming native cloth, hoping to continuously expand the boundaries of native cloth cultural and creative products in the future, and better integrate traditional culture into modern life," said Song.