TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei Fashion Week opened on Thursday with a sustainability focus and a runway show.

Garments from Taiwanese designers and textile brands including Claudia Wang, DYCTEAM, and Shin Kong Textiles featured in the opening show, per CNA. Audience members were also given a behind-the-scenes view of the show for the first time, viewing models as they prepared to walk the runway.

The Taipei Fashion Week website states that this year’s opening show highlights sustainability, digital pattern-making, waste reduction, and functional fabrics. It adds the event will feature designers who draw inspiration from film, sports, Indigenous people, Taiwan’s landscapes, gender fluidity, and more.

Organizers said models wearing sustainably produced garments walked a runway surrounded by round objects commonly found in fashion production, such as thimbles, pin cushions, and threads. They said this symbolized the circular nature of the show’s sustainability theme.

Culture Minister Li Yuan (李遠) told CNA that sustainable fashion must take source materials into account. Holding a bag made from pineapple leaves, Li noted that its appearance gives no hint of its origin, highlighting the strength of Taiwan's manufacturing.

The event was co-organized by the culture ministry, the economics ministry, and the Taipei City Government. The show will run from Thursday to Monday.