insh Fall / Winter 2007 – "Dou Hong".

As a child, Helen was interested in Chinese “Yue” Opera and this collection is inspired by a well-known opera “The Butterfly Lovers.” It mixes the spirit of Chinese opera culture with experiences of urban life in a visual showcase that twists the ending of a timeless yet tragic love story.

The collection is divided into sets that pair with the scenes of The Butterfly Lovers story: Leaving Home, Forming Friendship, Life at School, Saying Goodbye, Being Apart, Longing to be Together and Happy Ending. Reds, grays and white run through the collection’s pieces. Red expresses the strong emotions that run through the opera’s story. Gray symbolizes the barriers and impediments we all face in our pursuit of happiness. White stands for purity and innocence in one’s soul and in love.

Thai silk and cashmere form the basis for the layered, overlapping pieces. Helen adds structure and warmth by employing cotton batten. This material has long been used in Chinese winter clothing but is seldom seen in more formal attire. Signature pieces take the forms of the opera house roof and 斗细 or “Dou Xi” a traditional Chinese wedding hat. And common to all Helen Lee’s collections is a focus on detailing. For “Dou Hong”, details consist of elements from Yue Opera costumes such as tassels and 如意 or “Ru Yi,” a lucky pattern.

In the year 3 AD during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, girls we not allowed access to education. Not wanted their daughter to be uneducated, two parents dressed their pretty, smart and innocent girl (Zhu Yingtai) like a boy so she could attend a boarding school. While there, she falls in love with a poor but handsome and industrious young man (Liang Shanbo). Their short love affair ends in tragedy when Liang Shanbo dies from despair in not being able to marry Zhu Yingtai. Zhu Yingtai visits the tomb of her deceased lover and through a magical act both their spirits are transformed into a pair of butterflies.