CITYist

From our friends over at Highsnobiety, we hear that Chinese porcelain artist Li Xiaofeng has been commissioned by Lacoste to design two different polos—one fabric, one porcelain—for its Holiday 2010 Collector’s Series. With Chinese porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties serving as inspiration, Li Xiaofeng’s creations seem to be driven by the desire to unite traditional Chinese art with modern fashion. Limited in number and high in price, both shirts serve up a serious history lesson as well.

The printed polo is comprised of photographs of shards of porcelain combined with designs of children and lotuses from the Kangxi Period (1662-1772 AD). Only 20,000 shirts are available for both men and women, so we recommend you get your hands on one while supplies last. The second polo, the one made from actual porcelain, promises to be the most expensive and exquisite Lacoste polo to date, and draws its inspiration from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). It took Xiaofeng over three months to create each individual porcelain piece, paint it and link the individual pieces together. (He had to create new porcelain pieces for the shirt to be permitted to leave the country, because China forbids the export of ancient artifacts, which would include porcelain shards.)

The Lacoste polos are presently on display at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, but will return to Beijing this fall for Li Xiaofeng’s first solo show at the Red Gate Gallery.