Pierre Cardin, Bridging the Culture Gap
By admin on 2015-01-07

Like his 12th-century townsman Marco Polo, couturier Pierre Cardin has long been devoted to developing cultural communication between China and the West. Presenting ballet Marco Polo: The Last Mission in Shanghai Sunday night, for which he co-produced and designed all of the costumes and stage decorations, Cardin paid tribute to Marco Polo who he refers to as "his hero."

Both born in Venice, Italy, Cardin has long held a deep interest in Polo, naming his 2007-2008 Spring/Summer collection after the explorer. He said that the ballet presented a great opportunity to combine his admiration of Marco Polo and his fashion philosophy in a unique art form.

"Fashion shows are just one way to present your couture and ideas, but not the necessary and irreplaceable way," Cardin told the Global Times.

The 88-year-old Cardin's designs for the three-act ballet help tell the story of how Marco Polo completed his last mission in China given by the Emperor and returned to Venice.

"I wanted to be a stage actor when I was young but finally chose a more preferable profession as a couturier," Cardin explained. "Nevertheless, I'm still fond of stage art. Creating this ballet is like fulfilling my old dreams."

He added that ballet is a universal language that can easily be understood by people from any country or cultural background, in a similar vein to fashion.

In the ballet Marco Polo sails on different seas and travels across several lands from China to Venice, with the work's costume design encompassing all locations - Chinese and Italian styles to Indian and even Persian. Cardin said that he used a contemporary approach while combining signature design elements.

Marco Polo is widely known for his work as a cultural ambassador between China and the West. Always looking up to his heroic figure, Cardin said that they both have something in common, fundamentally.

"We are both explorers, though in different times and environments," he said.

Marco Polo fought the elements and disease in his journeys to the East, but for Cardin, who first came to explore China in 1979, the obstacles came in the political and cultural arenas.

Looking back, Cardin said that it was quite a risk trying to explore the Chinese market when the country was still comparatively shut away from the outside world. He recalled being stared at and given weird looks when he first arrived as there were few foreigners in China at the time.

"Luckily, I approached the Chinese government with a friendly and cooperative attitude and was returned with the same," Cardin recalled. "China wanted to export their textile products and I wanted to enter the market here and also introduce Chinese culture to the West. It was a win-win situation."

Having spent 31 years introducing Western fashion and culture to China and taking Chinese designs and models to the West, Cardin said the biggest change he has observed is that people in China are now more free and open-minded.

"When I first came here people seldom talked or feared to talk with a foreigner, but now we can be engaged in a passionate and free chat, sharing whatever is on our minds."

As for fashion, he said there were no local designers when he first came to China and that people simply wore black or gray, adding that several Chinese designers have since gained international recognition and Chinese dress as fashionably as people anywhere in the world.

Joining with Shanghai Ballet to create Marco Polo's return to Venice, the work is also a tribute to Shanghai Expo, as the event is a platform for combining different cultures and countries, Cardin explained. Accompanying French President Nicolas Sarkozy on his China visit, Cardin revealed that he would further contribute to Expo by presenting an architectural design model "Palais Lumiere" at the French Pavilion in two months time.

According to the blueprint that Cardin exclusively provided to the Global Times, the palace stands 280 meters high and boasts 100 apartments with 50 elevators, all powered by solar energy. Cardin said that he will construct the building in Paris and Venice in the future and if there's interest, perhaps in China.