A close and sultry day in Canton. The electric fan blows the skirts on the iron wire, revealing faces of women workers in a garment factory. Amid the thunderous noise of sewing machines, the workers appear exceptionally quiet under the fluorescent lamps. The clothes that will leave the factory soon will go to unknown customers; likewise, the future of each face along the assembly line is blurred.
A wintry day in Paris. Designer Ma Ke took her newly established Chinese brand “Wu Yong” to the Autumn/Winter Fashion Week 2007 in Paris. She buries her clothes in the earth, so nature and time will put finishing touches to her work. She favors the feelings expressed by hand-made products and abhors assembly lines. She is a designer against fashion. Dust-covered Fenyang, Shanxi Province. A small tailor’s shop in the remote mining area is patronized by occasional miners who come for small patch work and chats. In the dark night, the miners’ lights and the blinking cigarettes on miners’ fingers appear equally lonely. The plastic bag contain patched clothing keeps the warm of the sewing woman.