A Young Designer’s Way to Fashion Success

Chinese designer Zhang Yan,     1     work has just hit New York’s and Chinese catwalks (T台), is slowly breaking the old idea about men in embroidery (刺绣) and fashion. Zhang has surprised the world with his unique embroidered Qipaos.

However, for the 26-year-old young man, his success is not easy.     2     (hold) the tiny needle properly in his big hand wasn’t     3     easy job for Zhang in the early days. What’s more, his parents were     4     (strong) against him, thinking that embroidery was women’ s work and it had no future,     5     Zhang did not give up. He believes the spirit of craftsmanship has nothing to do with gender (性别) when it comes to dreams.

Years of his hard work     6     (pay) off so far. His designs quickly drew attention and even earned him an     7    (invite) to the 2019 New York Fashion Week. Western audiences at the show     8     (amaze) by the charm of the embroidered Qipao, saying it showed a kind of Eastern power.

Feeling that his success has brought him a sense of national     9     (proud), Zhang hopes his experience can also help inspire teenagers     10     (follow) their dreams. “There are many ways to achieve success. As long as you keep going, you can make your dreams come true,” he says.

Cambridge Dictionary has declared “upcycling” as     1     (it) Word of the Year 2019.     2     word refers to the activity of making new furniture, objects, etc. out of old or     3     (use) things or waste materials.

The number of times that “upcycling” has been looked     4     on the Cambridge Dictionary website     5     (rise) by 181% since December of 2011,     6     it was first added to the online dictionary. In the past year alone searches for the word have doubled.

Wendalyn Nichols, Publishing Manager at Cambridge Dictionary Press, believes that the word’s recent popularity is being caused by people’s growing     7     (conscious) of climate change and other environmental issues. “    8     (stop) the gradual process of climate change, let alone changing it     9     (absolute), can seem impossible at times. Upcycling is an action a single human being can take     10     (make) a difference,” he said.

Many other words on the shortlist for Word of the Year 2019 all express the same concern with the effects of climate change, including “carbon sink” and “compostable”.