A creativity and cultural learning institute, a fashion design house and a local toy manufacturer have teamed up to create the first ever Formosan black bear stuffed toy — with a “green” twist.
In a unprecedented effort to promote a green lifestyle and wildlife protection, Lilin Hsu (徐莉玲), the founder and chairman of the Xue Xue Institute, decided to make the endangered species indigenous to Taiwan into a soft toy and commissioned a young Taiwanese team to come up with the design, using green materials.
“In order to express a perspective about loving the Earth and supporting a green lifestyle, it is necessary to consider mass-producing something in a way that a commercial market can accept,” said Hsu, who managed a department store in the 1980s.
PHOTO: CNA
Hsu noticed the work of the young design team Biaugust Creation Office at an exhibition, when it introduced its Nonlife Zoo series of artworks featuring species that are facing extinction.
Searching out suitable materials for her idea, Hsu went to her old friend local fashion designer Shiatzy Chen (王陳彩霞).
Chen donated four kinds of high-quality fabrics to Hsu for the soft toys, which are stuffed with ecological polyester staple cotton.
The limited edition of 800 of the toys, about 30cm tall, are expected to go on sale this month at NT$600 each.
“They really look better and more creative than I would have thought,” said Chen, saying her decades-long friendship with Hsu was one of the reasons she was willing to support this cross-industry cooperation.
Letting more people know about their green approach and creating a platform for local young designers to showcase their work made Hsu’s decision even more meaningful, Chen said.
Chen said she did not rule out cooperating with Hsu again if the toys attracted enough attention from the public.
Each of the toys will come packaged in a Tyvek bag, which is made of strong polyethylene fiber that can be reused as a backpack or drawstring bag.
“It is another way of promoting environmental protection, as it is a multiple-use bag,” said Amy Wu, a Xue Xue manager.
The toys made a shining debut during their debut at the Xue Xue headquarters in October.
Hsu said officials from Hong Kong Disney decided to take all of them when they visited Xue Xue and have been in negotiation with Xue Xue over distribution rights in Hong Kong and China.
“Strength sometimes comes from a group,” said Hsu, expressing optimism about cooperating with more partners to promote a green lifestyle.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS