In 1999, he applied to study fashion design at China Textile University, but unfortunately, he wasn't accepted. He arrived in Quanzhou, and here begins the story.
That year, the gears of Quanzhou's footwear and apparel industry were churning. Every day, the assembly lines of this "China's Shoe Capital" churned out countless pairs of shoes, destined for shipment nationwide. Yet, streetwear stores relentlessly repeated the same designs—either imitating the saccharine designs of Japanese and Korean styles or replicating the loose fits of European and American styles. Young people embraced fashion, yet they often wore "other people's fashion."
By the early 21st century, the tide had turned. With the influx of Hong Kong street culture and the infiltration of international fashion magazines, BAPE's monkey head and Supreme's red box logo swept into mainland China like a gust of wind. In Shanghai's Xintiandi and Beijing's Wangfujing, trendy men and women lined up, holding T-shirts emblazoned with foreign logos. On campus, boys flaunted BAPE shark hoodies on skateboards, while girls tucked Supreme socks into high-top boots, competing to see whose logo stood out the most. These trendy brands from Japan and the United States have taken over young people's wardrobes with their distinctive symbols, but they also leave a poignant question: "Why do our own trendy brands always seem a little off?"
In Quanzhou, the sycamore leaves at Huaqiao University fell and grew again. His dorm room became a "secret studio." He bought the most ordinary white T-shirts and khaki pants from the clothing store near the campus gate. Using acrylic paint, he painted a Dunhuang flying fairy ribbon on the collar, smudged the crackle pattern of Song Dynasty porcelain on the trouser legs, and even embroidered crooked oracle bone script on the cuffs. At first, it was just for fun, until one day, when he wore his "artwork" to the cafeteria, the girl at the next table stared at his cuffs and exclaimed, "Classmate, where did you buy that? It's so beautiful!"
The news spread like wildfire. More and more students came to him with their old clothes to be remade: some wanted to print their favorite band's lyrics on the back of their sweatshirts, others wanted to use New Year pictures from their hometowns for patchwork. Pein's desk drawer gradually filled with stained old T-shirts and handwritten "design requirements." While squatting on his dorm balcony washing his paintbrushes, he suddenly realized: It's not that young people don't like trendy brands, but that they don't like "other people's trendy brands"; it's not that they're unwilling to express themselves, but that the market doesn't give them the opportunity to "express themselves in their own way."
After graduation, he moved to Xiamen. Student Street near Xiamen University became his "inspiration map"—on one side, densely packed with trendy shops, BAPE shark hoodies and Supreme skateboard bags gleaming in the windows; on the other, students clutching old clothes, asking "Can they be altered?", their eyes gleaming with a longing for "their own trendy brand." "Why do we always have to borrow other people's symbols to express ourselves?"
"Why not make one of our own?" he whispered into the evening breeze.
This thought gave rise to 72ST.
In "Journey to the West," Sun Wukong's seventy-two transformations respond to the world with countless different gestures. Just like our designs: a T-shirt can express different moods with different painted patterns; a basic sweatshirt can be transformed into a streetwear look by removing the embroidered patches, or transformed into a traditional Chinese style with a silk lining; a pair of overalls has pockets that can hold both a skateboard and a brush.
Someone asked, "Why is it called 72ST?"
He said, "72ST, the 72 Supernatural Transformations, embodies the adaptability and creativity inherent in Oriental people."
From a college entrance examination application form, to a painted T-shirt, to today's 72ST.
He never set out to disrupt anything; he simply wanted young people to understand that being trendy isn't about wearing the same clothes. Being unique, being a minority, change is the eternal trend.