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.
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