Profile: CHIAPEI CHANG – Real Leather Design Competitions

CHIAPEI CHANG

Shu-Te University of Science and Technology

Hi, I’m Penny, a first-year student majoring in Fashion Design at Shu-Te University of Science and Technology. I’m honored to be one of the top students in my program, and in 2024, I proudly won 1st place in the National Skills Competition (Traditional Chinese Costume Category). This experience strengthened my love for craftsmanship and taught me the importance of blending tradition with creativity. I believe fashion is a form of storytelling—an emotional language that doesn’t need words. My design philosophy is rooted in the idea of “coexistence,” where different cultures, eras, or emotions can harmoniously come together in a single piece. I’m especially drawn to combining Eastern and Western aesthetics, not to contrast them, but to find a new kind of balance. In my recent work, I explored the idea of time. Inspired by how the Earth’s rotation has slightly accelerated—possibly due to climate change—I used color gradients and fabric layers to express how time flows and fades. My favorite materials include lace, leather, and sheer fabrics, which help me express both strength and softness. To me, fashion isn’t just about beauty—it’s about awareness, feeling, and connection. Through every piece I create, I hope to speak to people’s hearts.

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碎構重生 Fragmented Rebirth

Category: Footwear

Competitions: Taiwan Region

This design adopts fragmented recomposition as its core structural language to re-examine and redefine the value of overlooked materials, transforming what is typically regarded as waste into the foundation of design generation. Through processes of deconstruction and reassembly, materials are repositioned from residual matter into an active component of creation, reconstructing both order and meaning within the structure. Sustainability is no longer treated as an optional or external consideration; instead, it is embedded as an inherent design mindset and methodology. It becomes the driving logic behind the work, where resource circulation and design language are integrated into a unified system of value creation.

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Where Has Time Gone

Category: Apparel

Competitions: Taiwan Region

Where has time gone ? 24 hours a day, why do you always feel that time is getting faster and faster? In fact, it's not just a feeling. According to scientists' observations, June 29, 2022 is the shortest day on human record, which is 1.59 milliseconds faster. Studies have pointed out that this change may be related to global warming: as the Arctic and Antarctic ice melts, the Earth's mass is redistributed, which in turn affects the Earth's rotation speed. Although it is only "possible", these small changes are reminding us that even if it is invisible, the earth is quietly changing. Through this design, I want to arouse everyone's attention to time and the environment - don't wait until the day when it's really irreparable to regret it.