Her Qipao is a ten-minute observational documentary following Sue, a self-taught Chinese qipao designer based in London who built her own qipao brand through passion and dedication rather than formal design training. The film documents how Sue participates in qipao practice and designs garments intended for daily wear and occasions.
The documentary includes Sue's personal account of qipao's historical evolution across the twentieth century, tracing how the garment changed with each decade from its origins as a radical act of female self-determination in 1920s Republican China to its complex contemporary status. It also features women who wear qipao, exploring their personal philosophies around the garment and what it means to choose it as part of everyday life.
Made entirely from a female perspective, the film challenges the assumption that qipao is inherently constraining or that it exists primarily to satisfy an external gaze. Instead, it presents qipao as a living cultural practice, continuously reinvented by the women who make and wear it, on their own terms and for their own pleasure.