The last tailor Chu Hongsheng: 86 years to do more than 5,000 pieces of cheongsam, relying on craftsmanship to dress up Song Qingling

A person with strong beliefs, in order to achieve a specific goal in his mind, will become very focused, extremely hard to achieve it, and even for the purpose of the goal to devote his life time, and craftsmanship is born in such an environment. The willingness to work hard for the beliefs that you have is the prerequisite for having a sense of craftsmanship.

Choose a thing, love a line, do a lifetime, to do the ultimate spirit of craftsmanship so that Chu Hongsheng is the most famous man in Shanghai Bund , mention the cheongsam, who will forget the man who insisted on this for 86 years?

In Changle Road, Shanghai, that place called "Pu Shi Road" in the old days, running from east to west through the entire French Concession of the old Shanghai, is so far more than 170 years, all the ladies and gentlemen of Shanghai interpretation of the legend of life stage.

Even though the atmosphere has now dissipated, there is still a part of the legend that lives on in the alleys and lanes, and the old stores and crafts are still highly sought after.

In Shanghai, from the 1920s and 1930s, the story of the cheongsam has not abated, and the cheongsam is the former dress of the flag people, but it is in Shanghai left a unique story, and became the most beautiful representative of the modern women's clothing of the old Shanghai, as for the concept of "Chinese fashion" came from this.

In Mr. Chu Hongsheng's recollection, during his apprenticeship at the tailor's store, the tailor's store in old Shanghai launched rounds of fierce competition over the cheongsam, and the "Needle Embroidery" alone was divided into the difference between a positive snatch, a stacked snatch, and a reverse snatch. A beautifully handmade cheongsam with a fine disc button on top even takes a skilled seamstress three full hours to sew to perfection.

What's even more surprising is that the replacement of the cheongsam is not only based on seasonal differences, but also age, matching and even traditional Chinese festivals, such as the Chinese New Year with the "Ruyi buckle" "Phoenix buckle" style buckle, etc., which is as complex as the time that has accumulated to date.

And the driving force behind this flourishing business, in addition to Chinese women's unique obsession with beauty and detail, is the persistent craftsmanship of the cheongsam makers.

In the 86 years of tailoring only cheongsam, Chu Hongsheng accumulated more than 5,000 pieces of cheongsam, but also had to rely on the craft to dress up Song Qingling, Hu Die, etc., is now the only remaining "last handmade tailor" in Shanghai.

If you ask Chu Hongsheng, why do you insist on making handmade cheongsams for eighty-six years, the old man will surely answer:

"In the old days, all the tailoring work was not assisted by machines, and we need to rely on handmade, and the fastest time for a common cheongsam can take a week to be completed. Although machines came out later to replace the handmade, the cheongsams produced could no longer perfectly accentuate the feminine softness as before."

In this way, the soul of the cheongsam has become the reason for Chu Hongsheng to stick to his life.

Perhaps Chu Hongsheng once thought of using machines to speed up the speed of cheongsam production, but the production of cheongsam missing soul but let him immediately terminate the idea, refused to hard fabrics and mechanical alignment, not only adhere to their own handmade, he also asked this his apprenticeship, only handmade can be sewn out of the mellow feeling.

Now it seems that all handmade clothing accessories have been pushed by the rapid development of the era of high-end customization, handmade cheongsam naturally also went to the clothing industry's high-end positioning , which is the inevitable result of the Chu Hongsheng adhere to a lifetime. All of the unique feelings poured into the persistence and perseverance of the course will reap the benefits of different success.

But in Chu Hongsheng's offspring, but no one inherited the craft of predecessors , continue to carry forward the handmade cheongsam skills, Chu Hongsheng did not have too much to say about it. After all, there is no interest is the biggest obstacle, since there is no yearning for this kind of craft, Chu Hongsheng also had to allow himself to become the last handmade tailor in Shanghai.

Now his wife and son have passed away, and his grandson and granddaughter have become ordinary drivers and teachers. Though their predecessors were prestigious tailors, the quiet civilian lives of the offspring demonstrate a euphemistic and soft family style, naturally and unassumingly a part of the metropolis of Shanghai.

In this family, Chu Hongsheng's existence is like a spiritual interpretation, not humble, not to be scared of changes in the spirit of craftsmen, on top of their own post, adhere to their own internal guidelines , to achieve the continuation of the cross-century. In the face of people's praise for his eighty-six years as a day, more than ninety years old Chu Hongsheng just jokingly said that he is just live longer, dry longer.

In 1918, Chu Hongsheng was born in Wujiang, Jiangsu Province, the only child in the family. In the Wujiang region, which is world-renowned for its textiles and printing, teenagers who did not continue their studies at the school had to choose to learn a separate trade, and most families chose tailoring, because learning tailoring was a student's choice.

In 1933, under the encouragement of his parents, seventeen-year-old Chu Hongsheng went to Shanghai's Zhu Shunxing Tailor Shop's number one master Zhu Hanzhang to learn the craft of tailoring in the master's careful leadership, Chu Hongsheng skills into some fame.

And what really made him famous was when he first started out, making a white lace cheongsam, which may not seem surprising now, but in the 1930s in the old Shanghai, it made waves.

At that time, the film star Hu Die wore a white lace cheongsam made by Chu Hongsheng out on the street, and was instantly overwhelmed by the crowd, which once became a new fashion vane, changing the old cheongsam from the "cold and square", forming a new cheongsam style with a Shanghainese flavor.

Forty years old, for Chu Hongsheng is a demarcation point, if before the age of forty is to seek the hand is familiar, then after forty is to seek the heart is familiar.

In the long river of history, Chu Hongsheng insisted on 86 years only do cheongsam, so far more than 5,000 pieces, in his later years, completely red in the eyes of people outside the Shanghai Bund, his achievements are no longer people's praise, but one after another bearing the value of the blood and story of the cheongsam.

Even though he left the cheongsam store in Shanghai in his later years and returned to Suzhou to retire, Chu Hongsheng was invited by Zhou Zhuguang to return to the tailoring business immediately, even if it was just a visual measurement, but one eye can accurately measure the size of the ability to be marveled at.

The dedication to the cheongsam business from the heart has become Chu Hongsheng's most distinctive feature, and the world's most praised place.

I've seen the sadness and happiness, I've seen the prosperity, the fashion goes back and forth, and what is unchanged is the experience of the craft. Chu Hongsheng with a lifetime of interpretation of the meaning of the spirit of craftsmanship in the cheongsam business , so that everyone can see the charm of silence, even if it is the last handmade tailor in Shanghai, even if there is no longer a handmade craft, this spirit will always remain, branded with the unique imprint of Chu Hongsheng.