“Many Men and One Lily” (迷人的上海百合)

“The notorious White Flower of China. You’ve heard of me, and you always believe what you’ve heard.”

Shanghai Express, 1932

ANOTHER striptease?

Why, you say that like it’s a bad thing. Disrobing girls have been an inspiration for Liu Dao, well, because (ok let’s get this out of the way) we love beautiful girls who love their bodies and want to show them to us; but on a more cerebral level – YES REALLY – these LED goddesses represent the celebration and reclamation of feminine strength and sexuality. Droves of young ladies these days rush to sign up for pole-dancing and strip-tease classes, once the sole arena for humiliation and objectification of women (in some places tragically still so). Our ladies are seeking to redefine the boundaries of their sexual identities and question what it means to be a woman in this age.

The infamous courtesans of concession-era Shanghai were beautiful, glamorous sirens, desired by men and despised by women. Even back in the halcyon days of 1930s Shanghai, a breathtaking double standard existed which dictated that “good girls” became wives and “naughty girls” could only aspire to be mistresses or escorts. Our island6 Lily tells these people where to shove it. She is bold, stunning, confident in her self-worth and determinedly irreverent. As she shrugs off the layers of her confining garments, she unveils her radiant beauty and melting vulnerability, pure as a bona fide Chinese Lily.

Blurb credit: Loo Ching Ling

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