[Photo provided to China Daily]

The last session's models appeared onstage in contemporary Chinese-style dresses loaded with chiffon, satin and beads.

The dark navy, black, green, red and white clothing appeared to be tie-dyed. But closer examination revealed the patterns were instead rendered using brush strokes. White paint appeared as drops, scribbles and tiny words on every possible corner of the clothes, including the hems, fronts and sleeves. Green, blue and black were used to portray wild grass swaying.

Satin patches sewed on the clothes featured the classic dragon-and-phoenix motif, traditionally used to portray the emperor and empress and often seen in costume dramas.