ITS Contest 2026 – Yi Ding – Faded Paper

Traditional Chinese paper cutting in folk culture was historically used as a patriarchal tool to repress and limit women’s aspirations. Traditional motifs symbolized abundance through fertility, showing childbearing as the only way for rural women to ensure family status and a secure place in society. Yi Ding has reconstructed this craft through marvelously engineered knitwear, inventing a suspended jacquard knitting technique to achieve the three-dimensional “flying paper” effect, to represent the independent women that inspire her today, and the shackles they have cut through. The use of lace motifs is a homage to the courage and determination of her mother who runs a lingerie store in their hometown, working day and night to ensure financial independence. In Ding’s collection tradition gets to be preserved and reinvented at the same time. Project selection motivation The research and the creative process expressed by Yi Ding has been deep, consistent and very exciting. She delivered an outstanding collection that shows a clear understanding of knitwear, the love for research and innovation honouring the foundations of the craft itself by focusing on details, volume, quality and ease.