On April 20, 2026, the Milan Design Week officially opened in Milan, Italy. The Milan Design Week Sino-Italian Joint Exhibition and series of events, approved by the Bureau of International Exchanges and Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, also grandly opened in the Tortona 31-Opificio 31-TEXTILE-forte exhibition area. Tiantan Cultural and Creative and Tiantan Xiaai as a representative of innovative traditional Chinese medicine culture made a brilliant appearance, revitalizing the culture of mugwort with modern creativity, becoming a shining calling card for conveying Eastern health wisdom in this "Cultural Innovation and Chinese Expression" themed event, and receiving widespread attention and praise from international visitors at the site. The front row from left to right is: Luca, co-founder of Milan Design Week and co-initiator of the Milan Design Week-Sino-Italian Joint Venture; Boseli, Chairman of the Italian China Foundation; Zheng Dongli, Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Milan; Wang Xinyi, Cultural Attaché of the Chinese Consulate General in Milan; Wang Lu, Deputy General Manager of the China External Cultural Group.
This event was jointly initiated by the China Council for International Cultural Cooperation, the China Ethnic Culture and Arts Foundation, and the Italian Fashion and Cultural Arts Association, with academic support from the China Academy of Art and the Italian Institute for Heritage. It also received special support from the Fuorisalone organizing committee of Milan Fashion Week. The event presents the abundant achievements of Chinese cultural inheritance and design innovation through various forms such as art exhibitions, interactive experiences, and academic forums. The exhibition area features special interactive projects such as digital cultural experiences, intangible cultural heritage demonstrations, and cultural and creative products displays, creating an immersive cross-cultural experience scene for Chinese and foreign audiences. Mr. Zheng Dongli, Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Milan, delivered the opening speech for the event. Ms. Wang Lu, Deputy General Manager of the China Council for International Cultural Cooperation, delivered a speech on behalf of the organizers. Luca, co-founder of Milan Fashion Week and initiator of the Milan Fashion Week-China-Italy joint initiative, delivered a speech. Mario Boseli, Lifetime Honorary Chairman of Milan Fashion Week, Chairman of the Italian China Council Foundation, and Fashion Godfather of Italy, delivered a speech. The event was hosted by Mr. Liu Jiahong, Director of the Youth Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Special Fund of the China Ethnic Culture and Arts Foundation. Mr. Sun Yiping of Tiantan Aesthetics and Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Milan, Mr. Zheng Dongli, were photographed together in front of the Xiao Ai booth at the Temple of Heaven. Mr. Sun Yiping and Mr. Li Ang, Director of the Milan China Cultural Center/President of the Italian Fashion and Cultural Arts Association, were photographed together. Best Innovation Award Winners: Sun Zaimeng Tiantan Xiao Ai, Xingshi Xian STARAY, Hua Zhu Shengjing
At the opening ceremony, the organizing committee, after professional review, formally awarded several major awards: Best Innovation Award goes to Tai'an Xiaai, Staray, and Hua Zhu Shengjing; Best Creativity Award was won by Ottica Cristina & Willy, Raxxy, and Remy Bear; Best Communication Award was won by Guangzhou Taomin Culture, and the Guangzhou Hummingbird Workshop Tea Culture Co., Ltd. and Yunnan Shujian Tea Company won runner-up awards. Tai'an Xiaai appeared on the same stage with the winning projects from the design week and outstanding cultural and creative works, jointly forming an exhibition matrix that deeply integrates traditional Chinese culture and contemporary design, vividly interpreting the innovative vitality and cultural confidence of "Chinese expression." Award Acceptance Speech by Tai'an Xiaai Award Acceptance Speech by Staray Award Acceptance Speech by Hua Zhu Shengjing As an important part of this Sino-Italian cultural exchange, the appearance of Tai'an Xiaai is both an important practice for Tai'an cultural and creative industries to step onto the international stage, and it explores a feasible path for the innovation and overseas expansion of traditional culture through a small scope, injecting new momentum into the dissemination of Eastern Traditional Chinese Medicine culture on the global design stage. It is reported that this "Milan Design Week Sino-Italian Joint Body" event will continue until April 26th, and further special exchanges and interactive experiences will be held to continuously promote in-depth dialogue and win-win cooperation between China and Italy in the fields of culture, design, and creativity.
Mugwort is a classic symbol of traditional Chinese medicine and folk culture, carrying the wisdom of Eastern wellness for a thousand years. Tiantan Xiaai deeply explores the aesthetic foundation of the Temple of Heaven, breaking through the limitations of traditional mugwort culture presentation, innovatingly interpreting the core meaning of Chinese medicine culture with an internationalized and youthful design language, using creative carriers to break down cross-cultural communication barriers, allowing overseas audiences to directly experience the unique value and charm of Chinese medicine culture and Eastern aesthetics, and helping traditional Chinese medicine elements achieve efficient overseas dissemination. During the event, Mr. Sun Yiping of Tiantan Aesthetics shared a new product from the main hall of the collaboration during Milan Design Week: Tiantan Xiaai x Cielslife Collaboration New Product - "Ai Qing Fu" Launched at the 2026 Milan Design Week: Tiantan Xiaai and Cielslife Collaboration New Product - "Ai Qing Fu" is very popular with the public. Originating from Tiantan Xiaai's first-ever "Ai Qing" series wellness clothing launched by the United Nations, it made its debut at the Milan Design Week with a major exhibition, receiving widespread love and positive reviews from people worldwide. The brand deeply explores the traditional medicinal value of herbal plants, selects high-quality mugwort and other natural medicinal materials for extraction and empowerment, fuses ancient herbal care processes with modern textile technology, weaves natural mugwort fibers into the fabric to create skin-friendly, breathable health textiles with a gentle herbal warmth. With Eastern herbal aesthetics as the core, combined with modern minimalist cutting designs, it breaks the boundaries of traditional herbal clothing, gently interpreting a relaxed, light wellness lifestyle for mind and body, allowing the Chinese mugwort wellness culture to elegantly bloom on the international design stage. Tiantan Xiaai x "Jiaolin Heroes" Collaboration Tea Drinks and Medicinal Cuisine
Tiantan Xiao Ai and the classic IP of Banana Forest Heroes launch a major cross-industry collaboration, partnering with the high-end wellness brand Lingchun Weida to create new style tea drinks based on the principle of medicine and food being the same, and a series of health-conscious soup products in collaboration with Zhonghong. This new product series premiered at Milan Fashion Week in Europe, leveraging global health consumption trends to deeply extract the wisdom of millennia of Chinese food and nourishment, integrating Eastern herbal philosophy with modern light wellness lifestyles. The products embody the core characteristics of natural herbs, gentle nourishment, rich and layered aroma, and smooth and delicate texture, perfectly aligning with international contemporary healthy eating trends. During the launch, they quickly garnered widespread attention and high favor from local European residents and international industry guests, using taste as a cultural bridge to break down regional and cultural barriers, vividly conveying the profound heritage of Chinese medicine and food synergy wellness culture and Eastern living aesthetics to the world, helping the concept of Chinese healthy wellness steadily move onto the international stage and integrate into the global consumer market. Tiantan Xiao Ai x Memory Effect collaboration precious metal jewelry, Milan Fashion Week debut, leading the fashion light luxury trend.
Tiantan Xiao Ai, in collaboration with master craftswoman Bai Yihong, has launched a major collaboration series of precious metal jewelry, making its stunning debut at the 2026 Milan Design Week and officially landing on the European light luxury stage. The Ai series is centered on Eastern fashion design, deeply integrating modern Chinese medicine with Eastern wellness philosophy, merging the traditional concepts of herbal plants, medicinal herbs, meridian harmony, and nurturing the body with various traditional crafts and modern creative designs. The designs extract aesthetic symbols and Eastern aesthetic imagery from the Temple of Heaven, featuring refined and elegant lines, meticulously crafted details, achieving a perfect symbiosis between traditional wellness wisdom and contemporary fashion aesthetics. As a light luxury carrier of Chinese wellness culture, the products quickly garnered high attention and favor from the European fashion world, health lifestyle circles, and international guests during their debut. Using wearable Eastern fashion philosophy as a link, it breaks down cultural and aesthetic barriers to convey the innovative concept of "fashion empowering TCM, design empowering wellness" to the global community, promoting the movement of traditional Chinese wellness culture from cultural export to the mainstream of international light luxury consumption, and helping the global realization of Chinese healthy living aesthetics.
