Meet the Fashion Design Student: Cheng Xing: A Chinese Girl Who Insists on Her Design Dream
Cheng Xing, a 24-year-old girl from Jilin province, China, currently an M.A. fashion design student at AAU. "Fashion design for me is the thing I like. I put my thoughts and feelings from life on the designs. It’s what I am willing to spend all my time and energy on,” when Cheng talks about fashion design, her steady eyes reveal her maturity and calmness.
When Cheng was in elementary school, her parents have been engaged in the wholesale business of clothing. They own a factory, but like most Chinese factories, they lack professional designers. What they do instead is they purchase what's popular on the market, and copy the design to produce similar styles in their factory. Throughout the years Cheng has developed an immensely strong interest in clothing, and the idea of designing clothes for her factory has always a top priority in her mind. "It's one of my lifelong goals to design spectacular clothes for my family business. I came to the United States to study design in order to fulfill this dream," says Cheng.
Although Cheng only has three classes per week, she spends the majority of her time doing homework. Since her undergraduate major was not fashion design, along with a language barrier, Cheng often needs much more time than others to finish an assignment. For others who will normally take 3 hours, it will take her an entire night. Cheng says, "When your talents do not satisfy your ambitions, you need study even harder. In the end, the hard work will definitely be worth it." It's normal for Cheng to do a project in the classroom until the building is closed. Cheng enjoys her current schedule and life situation, which pushes her and really allows her to focus on design.
Cheng's schedule is so full, yet she never feels less inspired for her design. She says, "Inspiration, I think it's going to accumulate in my experiences, constantly settling, like a sponge, soaking up the water and releasing it." The rainbow on her way to school, the church colored Windows by the roadside, the abandoned motorcycle repair shop, or a book, an old photo, all can become inspirations for Cheng. "When I am filled with work and lacks inspiration, I take my breaks. I may go to the gym, or go to SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to see feral cats, and then have a good night's sleep to re-energize myself."
Last week Cheng received a letter of recommendation from her professor. The letter says after she graduates, she will be recommended to a fashion design company as an intern. It is not easy to get such an opportunity as an international student. "Luck favors people who are prepared." When Cheng says this, she sounds so confident and she actually feels like a real designer, not a student. This is her last semester in AAU, she cherishes every moment of this semester. "Only by arming yourself with knowledge and accumulating enough experience, then you will be confident enough to meet every challenge." After the internship, Cheng will go back home to China. In her opinion, “Fashion is just an adjective word for most Chinese, and it should be regarded as an industry like Europe or the United States.” China's economy is developing rapidly and Cheng believes, "One day, ‘Made in China’ will be changed to ‘Created in China.’"
