Different people have different understandings of happiness. "The 2011 China International Fabric Design Competition, with the theme of "happiness" as a buzzword that attracts much attention nowadays and as the core word of the 12th Five-Year Plan, has raised the industry's expectations of designers' creative expression.
　　Sun Rui Zhe, Vice President of China National Textile Industry Association (CNTA), interpreted the term "happiness" from a dialectical point of view: the pursuit of fashion voice by Chinese fabric brands and fabric designers is a process of "pain and pleasure". Happiness is the ultimate value target and the most powerful engine for the development of China's textile and garment industry; the birth of creativity is often accompanied by a feeling of happiness and pleasure. It is only by enjoying the inevitable pain that we can achieve the indispensable happiness.
　　When it comes to happiness, Sun Rui Zhe shares his views on the current development of the textile industry and explores the "path to happiness" for the fabric industry and fabric designers, from the constraints to the path to happiness.
　　The value of exploring the path to happiness
　　For the Chinese textile industry, which is on the path from being a "textile powerhouse" to a "textile powerhouse", the ultimate goal of a textile powerhouse, according to Sun Rui Zhe, is to realise the right to a standards discourse and the right to a fashion discourse. In this process, happiness has always existed and the value of exploring it is self-evident.
　　Therefore, the exploration and pursuit of happiness not only echoes the national call for macroeconomic "inclusive growth" and concern for people's well-being in the industry, but is also the subtle capture of individual happiness by designers using the creative language of fabric design. Different people have different understanding and perceptions of happiness, but this theme will inspire fabric designers to interpret it in a rich and colourful way, making this competition full of humanistic atmosphere and warmth of happiness.
　　For fabric designers, where do they find their happiness? Sun Ruizhe sees the issue of status advancement. Companies should treat fabric designers with promotion and give them more credit. That is to say, they are not just behind the scenes of gloriously shiny garments, but they should go to the front like fashion designers and get the attention and respect of the industry. For example, with the current fabric designer qualification that has been launched and the upcoming fabric designer of the year award, this professional stage will receive even more attention, which is one of the main themes of the China International Fabric Design Awards.
　　Constraints on the happiness index
　　Firstly, Sun Rui Zhe analyses what exactly is holding back the improvement of the "happiness index" of fabric companies? Firstly, the creative design capacity of fabric enterprises cannot match the manufacturing capacity; secondly, the intellectual property protection of fabric design is not strong enough; thirdly, there is a relative scarcity of fabric design talents.
　　Specifically, current fabric design and research and development cannot achieve "both internal and external cultivation", manufacturing capacity and quality level has been improved, but there is a lack of research, application and consumption guidance in fashion trends.
　　The lack of intellectual property protection for fabric design, especially the lack of institutional protection for pattern design, has led to a lack of independent innovation, directly limiting the investment of fabric enterprises in creative research and development. The positive significance of the French PV show is also inspiring domestic fabric enterprises, if they just copy, there is absolutely no market in the industry, and this point of view has gradually been verified in the market competition. Sun Rui Zhe stressed that it is important to make the industry recognise "who copied who is shameful, who original who is glorious".
　　It is the neglect of the creative design ability of fabrics and the inadequate protection mechanism for creative design ability that makes fabric design talent a scarce resource compared to clothing design talent. If the concept of "people-oriented" is interpreted in a different way, we find that many fabric enterprises still regard fabric designers as a "cost" in the sense of wear and tear, rather than as a "cost" sufficient to achieve value release. Capital". This misalignment of perceptions has led to a cycle of inefficiency in the level of fabric design.
　　The path to happiness
　　Secondly, what can be done to keep the "happiness" of fabric companies on the rise? Sun Rui Zhe explains three aspects of fabric design: the "system view", the "integration view" and the "responsibility view" of fabric design.
　　The first is the "system view" of fabric design. Innovation in the textile and garment industry is essentially the innovation of an ecosystem. In this ecosystem, fabric companies need to establish an efficient and transparent supply chain collaboration with raw material suppliers, equipment suppliers and downstream apparel brands. We have found that fabric companies with a high 'happiness index' not only have solid and reliable manufacturing capabilities, but are also able to proactively penetrate the garment design and development stages of downstream apparel brands. This collaborative development model effectively avoids variation in the effects of fabric products on the ready-to-wear market and increases the dependence of apparel brand owners on the expertise of the fabric companies. The inspiration this brings us is that fabric design should change its isolated and closed state and actively form collaborative development with downstream garment brands to form a systemic thinking of integrated innovation in the industry chain.
　　The second is the "integration concept" of fabric design. Judging from the award-winning works of previous fabric design competitions, the concept of crossover and fusion has become the inspiration guide for fabric design masterpieces. We should look beyond the industry, carry out solid research on local trends, use artistic perspectives, leverage new technologies and base ourselves on the context of the market, so that the development of the fabric industry integrates more external quality resources and refreshes the traditional industrial interface.
　　Thirdly, the "concept of responsibility" in fabric design. "A sense of happiness comes first from a sense of security, and the fabric industry's sense of security must be achieved through quality, environmental protection and the use of technology. "and "green consumption" as the core expression. In the future fabric design, I hope more creative talents in fabric design will put more wisdom into the development and application of environmentally friendly fabrics such as organic cotton and fibre recycling. "Happiness".