The herald flags from Beijing Opera is iconic in Chinese opera culture. They are built on the costume of martial characters, such as generals, in the war. In a war in ancient time, the order from general would normally be on the flag, and the herald would put it on their back, so their hands can hold the rein. Another purpose of wearing them is making the enemy feel there are more people, to scare the enemy. As time past by, and the growth of opera culture, they are no longer designed to be functional on the stage, but a symbol, an ornament.
Based on my research, most of the male general character has herald flags in blue, white and yellow color, they barely wear red. While most of the female general character, such as Mulan, Guiying wear red flags decorated with blue patterns. I was trying to find my own color palette, to break the boundary between the male and female general character's costume colors.
Working in progress... The welding precess was very challenging. because the legs are very sharp, so there's not much material to work with, the temperature of welding has to be well controlled, so the legs wouldn't melt. I value craftsmanship as much as my design in my design process. I tried to make each single welding lines straight and clean.
Color choosing and upholstery is another big challenge. The color I picked didn't work well with the color and form of the chair, so I had to go back to the color palette that I created to pick more colors to compare.
Since the shape of the back is organic, the final fabric can't be simply attached on the upholstery, I made these patterns and sewed them to the shape of the cushions, so there wouldn't be wrinkles on the fabric.
Working on the flags...
