On February 25, 2007, Ma Ke presented WUYONG/the Earth at the Lycée Stanislas gymnasium during Paris Fashion Week, but rejected the conventional catwalk entirely. Instead of sending models down a runway, she placed them motionless on tall illuminated plinths arranged across the floor, turning the models into something closer to living sculptures or museum objects. Spectators were invited to walk among them and inspect the garments at close range. The collection used locally sourced and recycled materials, traditional Chinese spinning, weaving, dyeing, and embroidery, and objects such as a paint-covered sheet transformed into a dress. The anti-consumerist staging challenged the speed and spectacle of commercial fashion, while its striking stillness made the presentation feel deliberately ritualistic and unsettling rather than conventionally glamorous. Elle called the debut 'brilliant' and 'one of the great moments of the season.' The show and Ma Ke's production methods later became central to Jia Zhangke's 2007 documentary Useless, which won the Orizzonti Doc Prize at the 64th Venice Film Festival.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 2000s
Ma Ke Turns Paris Fashion Week into a Human Sculpture Gallery
Ma Ke / WUYONG / 2000s
On February 25, 2007, Ma Ke presented WUYONG/the Earth at the Lycée Stanislas gymnasium during Paris Fashion Week, but rejected the conventional catwalk entirely. Instead of sending models down a runway, she placed them motionless on tall illuminated plinths arranged across the floor, turning the models into something closer to living sculptures or museum objects. Spectators were invited to walk among them and inspect the garments at close range. The collection used locally sourced and recycled materials, traditional Chinese spinning, weaving, dyeing, and embroidery, and objects such as a paint-covered sheet transformed into a dress. The anti-consumerist staging challenged the speed and spectacle of commercial fashion, while its striking stillness made the presentation feel deliberately ritualistic and unsettling rather than conventionally glamorous. Elle called the debut 'brilliant' and 'one of the great moments of the season.' The show and Ma Ke's production methods later became central to Jia Zhangke's 2007 documentary Useless, which won the Orizzonti Doc Prize at the 64th Venice Film Festival.
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