Formosa Sapphire
Formosa Sapphire is a silk scarf decorated with a pattern of Swinhoe's Pheasant, a bird species endemic to Taiwan. The design features hand-drawn brush strokes, fine line textures and bright colors. The bird was studied through photographs and reference books, then drawn in detail. The artwork was converted into a vector file to preserve the original strokes and colors, and is applied to silk by digital printing. The scarf measures 650 by 650 millimeters. The intent is to introduce endemic Taiwanese birds to a wider audience and to support awareness of bird conservation.
Formosa Sapphire Scarf by Yen-Yu Chen was featured as an innovative example of fashion design by the A' Design Awards. Formosa Sapphire Scarf was awarded the Iron A' Design Award in Textile, Fabric, Textures, Patterns and Cloth Design in 2020. The A' Textile, Fabric, Textures, Patterns and Cloth Design Award is an international, jury-voted, fair and ethical design prize that rewards superior design of structural fabric, engineered cloth, smart textiles, technical textiles, woven fabric, jacquard fabric, tapestries and more.
