A BIFT designer delegation attended a ceremony celebrating the 100-day countdown to the ninth Asian Winter Games in Harbin, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, on Oct 30.
Led by Zhang Hongna, Party chief of School of Fashion of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, the delegation consisted of teachers — Yang Hui, Youjia and Gu Yuanyuan — and representatives of postgraduates.
They worked closely with the company, 361 Degrees , the official partner of the 2025 Asian Winter Games, to jointly design and develop a series of sportswear and accessories such as hats, socks, gloves, backpacks, etc., for all types of participants, including the torchbearers, torch escort runners, members of the Olympic family, volunteers, staff, event officials and security personnel.
As an important part of the cultural image of the Asian Winter Games, related clothing and accessories are not only a window to showcase the spirit and style of the Games, but also a fashionable means to publicize Harbin.
At the launch ceremony, Associate Professor Yang Hui introduced the overall design concept and work process. Yang has participated in the design of Olympic-related clothing many times. As the person in charge of the clothing design project for this Asian Winter Games, Yang led the team to start the work in March this year. In eight months, they created the design and achieved the design innovations and overcame the technical difficulties to complete the overall project that covers seven groups of people and comprises more than 100 styles in 34 categories.
The series of clothing designed by BIFT designers for volunteers and members of the Olympic family, based on the core graphics of the Asian Winter Games, focuses on the snowflake form, highlighting the unique visual image of crystal clearness, coldness and perseverance, supplemented by dynamic elements such as halos and streamlines, conveying joy and blessings, and presenting hope and strength, which not only displays the optimistic, open-minded, enthusiastic and brave national character, but also symbolizes the sports spirit of athletes who are not afraid of difficulties and strive for progress.
The main colors of this series of clothing are taken from the “Green Shadow Purple Dream” color system of the Asian Winter Games — the “Ice Crystal Blue” and “Xing'an Green” theme colors (Xing’an is the name of a mountain range in the province). The overall clothing adopts an H-shaped and 3D structure, integrating the characteristics of outdoor sports clothing and a business parka, ensuring that the clothing is warm, comfortable and light, and creating a simple and generous fashion style.
Asian Winter Games volunteer clothing and equipment
The sportswear series for staff and event officials, designed by a team led by Associate Professor You Jia and Associate Professor Gu Yuanyuan, is based on the ice crystal blue series, which extends to different shades of blue such as Legendary Blue and Deep Blue. Deep Blue represents the seriousness of the technical officials, while Legendary Blue shows the positive and enterprising work enthusiasm. The overall visual effect of the clothing is dignified, generous, harmonious and unified, which not only shows the identity and characteristics of the working group, but also complements the environment of the venue.
Clothing and equipment for technical officials of the Asian Winter Games
When creating the torchbearer series of clothing, the designers conducted in-depth research on the geographical features of Heilongjiang province, looking for characteristic symbols and design inspiration from local elements. Heilongjiang is the first province in China to welcome the sunrise. The sun and ice and snow together create this city, and the theme of “living toward the sun” came into being. The sun shines and reflects different angles, shapes and brilliance. The design team combines the beauty of the charm of light with the clothing style.
In the design of the jacket, light pours down from above and surrounds the arms, showing the feeling of being enveloped by the sun; the pants are decorated with patterns after the light changes, optimizing the visual extension. The design theme “living toward the sun” praises the fighting spirit of athletes who grow towards the light, and wishes the Asian athletes gathered in Harbin to show their talents in sports competitions and shine the light of civilization exchange and integration in the grand event of winter sports.
Asian Winter Games torchbearer clothing and equipment
Asian Winter Games torch guard clothing and equipment
The Asian Winter Games series of sportswear designs have become a breakthrough point, combining fashion culture, science and technology with environmental protection concepts, reflecting humanistic care in the details, achieving market transformation and lasting influence.
In order to ensure comfort and durability under the ultra-low temperature conditions outdoors in Harbin, new materials with temperature control, skin-friendliness, ductility and intelligence are actively explored and used in the design and development of the clothing to enhance the wearing experience. The overall clothing uses an outer fabric with high-strength wind and rainproof performance, with a sense of free breathability, a high-weight filling volume, supplemented by a dry down filling process, combined with multiple traceless hot pressing and other advanced processes, to effectively block the cold air for a long time; the inner lining is coated with graphene material for core warmth and bacterial inhibition. It adopts a three-dimensional tailoring that is more in line with the characteristics of the human body, an improved raglan structure to meet the needs of activities, a chin protection patch attached to the neck zipper, an optimized hat version and enhanced adjustable and wind and rainproof properties, increased pocket warmth and storage space, and a two-way zipper added to the bottom hem. Many details are tailored to improving the convenience for the wearer’s work.
Energy-saving equipment is used in the production and processing of the clothing and accessories, and digital printing technology is used to avoid printing and dyeing pollution. From clothing design to production and manufacturing, the concept of environmental protection and sustainability is fully implemented.
Clothing and equipment for members of the Olympic family at the Asian Winter Games
Clothing and equipment for security personnel at the Asian Winter Games
The costume design project for the Asian Winter Games is one of the important achievements of BIFT in deepening university-enterprise cooperation and serving major sports events. It has improved the construction of the Asian Winter Games costume system, vividly displayed the image of China as major country, and demonstrated unique Chinese style. The designs are a concentrated embodiment of the national spirit and its cultural confidence. The designs and the ideas they contain will not only add unique highlights to international sports events, but also bring a visual feast to event participants and spectators, and enhance the influence and appeal of the events.
Sports are an important symbol of social development and human progress, an important manifestation of comprehensive national strength and social civilization, and can add momentum and gather strength for economic and social development. The series of sportswear designed by the BIFT team for the ninth Asian Winter Games in Harbin in 2025 is a vivid practice of the institute’s design, technology, organization, and communication advantages based on its experience in designing clothing and apparel related to the Olympic Games. The team has carried out scientific and technological innovation and promoted the application of relevant results, reflecting the remarkable results of university-enterprise cooperation and serving the needs of the country.
In recent years, BIFT has fully utilized its advantages in industrial resource integration, clothing culture research and design application, clothing technology research and development, etc., to create an open research platform, build a clothing culture research system for major events and activities of the country, and has achieved many innovative results in serving national needs, the development of Beijing and industry transformation.
At the same time, BIFT actively brings the culture and spirit of international sports events into the campus and classroom, deepens the experience and talent training of teachers and students in major projects, and vigorously promotes the integration of industry and education, and the integration of science and education, and has made contributions to exploring cutting-edge education models in the field of fashion with Chinese characteristics. These efforts are conducive to promoting independent innovation of high-tech sports equipment, and highlighting the style and image of China as a rising major country in the new era.