ＥＹＩＶｉｌｌａｇｅ’ｓ　Ｆａｓｈｉｏｎ　Ｓｈｏｗ

Ｗｕ　Ｘｉａｏｈｕｉ

For most people, the thought of picking fruit, flowers and plants - to wear - is incomprehensible. For the Axi people, at least during their annual fashion show, it is just part of life, like waking up, eating and getting dressed.

Fresh flowers, palm leaves and cogon grass help dress up the event, which is held during the Torch Festival.

The Axi people are descendents of Chinais Yi minority. The Axi are known for their enthusiasm for life, for revealing their emotions and for their endless pursuit of both life and love.

Mudeng, an ancestor of the Axi, used to wear clothes made from palm leaves, pieces of palm trees, rattan and gunny cloth. During cold weather, Mudeng would rub a stick briskly against a piece of rotten wood to start a fire to keep warm. The first time he tried this, Mudeng rubbed a stick on wood for three days and nights before he got a spark. Since then, the Axi people collected kindling and used fire to stay warm. The Axi people of the day named fire “Mudeng” in honor of its creator. To pay tribute to Mudeng and commemorate the discovery of fire, the Axi people wear palm leaves, rattan and fresh flowers each year during the Torch Festival.

Full of imagination and creativity, the Axi people of Eyi village are injecting new vitality - and spirit - into the ancient festival.

Each May, when the grass and trees are lush and the flowers are in bloom, the Axi “wearing the plants” hold their fashion show. All the villagers attend - and party like there is no tomorrow on the festive occasion.

The Axi do not lust after the fashions of today; instead, they believe clothing is meant to be simple, not a way top decorate the body. The Axi prefer to have leaves and wild fruit - which are cool and natural to their skin. They pick branches and leaves and make the materials into cool summer suits.

Despite the simplicity, the Axi peoples fashions are not inferior to the clothes created by the great masters creations.