The renowned international designer John Galliano once rather wryly defined fashion as "being of two types: one to grace the body and the other to adorn the soul." It goes without saying that the fashions of Sophie Hong belong to that type that adorns both body and soul.

Before even getting into the cutting of fabric, Hong,in just her gathering and shaping of the material, already inhabits a realm distinct from the worldly lines, colors and components of contemporary popular fashion. Inspiration begins with her selection of traditional Chinese Xiangyun silk as the embryonic slate for her creative works: silk sheets spread out across a grassy field, watered with the juice of crushed yam-root and sun-dried between the months of April and September. This raw fabric then gets carted down to the banks of a river for "mudding," a process of immersion in silt harvested from the middle of a riverbed. Not until the primary material has been prepared by carrying out these rigorous and precise steps, can the more refined work of "redesign" begin.

Upon the completion of the pre-design stage, the character of the various fabrics will have been revealed: serene and unpretentious blending of color swaths and suggestive mosaics, containing spring water, warm sunshine and indigo grass in nearly every square inch, which emit the earthy feel, heavenly brilliance, and rhythmic pulse of warm-to-cool tones, and build up into a kind of overwhelming sense of ease and intimacy as though "draping the wearer in the dynamic flow of the seasons contained within the aura of the cosmos." Imagine the graceful manner and extraordinary distinction of a body adorned in all-natural redesigned cloth that has passed through the hands of an internationally renowned designer after being "chewed by cicadas, soaked in fields, pressed by the sun, and dyed in a river."

Just as might be expected, once this material has been cut and sewn for wearing on some body, no matter the age or gender, those bodies that put it on-in particular those that have cultivated an inner spirit and early on stood out as artists of note-will find themselves reunited with the most remarkable contours of their soul. Draped with poise and clothed in distinction, they stand apart from the mundane morass of vulgar life, as if adorned with the light of the sun, the water of the river, and the grass of the fields. The wearers of Hong's creations stand-out as if they are the inhabitants of another realm, a miraculous place where fashion merges with the spirit of the adorned.

Art history tells us that the best contemporary artists only begin to gradually mature once they have discovered the praiseworthy element of their creative energies:for writers this is their own expressive vocabulary, for musicians their own narrative sound, and for visual artists their own creative form... This too is true for the best fashion designers: they must search out that element in their creative work that sets them apart from the crowd, that element of uniqueness in their bodily garments that belongs only to the product of their creative talent, and use this element to tell the story of their fashion designs. They are in possession of an element that is put into constant practice to bring out their own distinctive aesthetic in the clothing they design: this is true for Issey Miyake, Versace, and Calvin Klein, and it is also true for Sophie Hong. What is even more heartening is that the creative element that sets Hong apart from the crowd comes from the natural elements of a grassy field, flowing river, and warm sun, twisted into a helix of all-natural genetic material.

Hong has more than twenty years of accomplishment in fashion, and is also an adept practitioner of sketching and goldsmithing, along with a variety of other creative arts. Her interests stretch wide, encompassing a deep affinity for nature, heartfelt concern for the Humanities, and the constant drive to create. Her success has exceeded the mere conquering of Paris, New York and other marquis international cities. Now, we are filled with anticipation for the next manifestation of the sensibility behind this master designer. We hope that Hong will continue to boldly challenge herself. That,in the not too distant future, she will present us with ever greater novelty and ever more exquisite Hong silk fashion artistry. In short, we hope that all souls under the heavens may,in this way, behold the experience of ever greater beauty.

Translated by Scott Michael FAUL 傅思可

From Sophie Hong 洪麗芬, Sophie HONG Volume 1. Taipei: Librairie Le Pigeonnier, 1998. Photo courtesy of Sophie Hong. All the photos are by Sophie Hong, except for those with photographers'names acknowledged.