Miao embroidery, originating from the remote mountains of Southwest China, is on display to showcase beauty of traditinal Chinese culture during New York Fashion Week. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 2011, the SCLF and Marie Claire jointly established the SCLF Marie Claire Women's Happiness Fund to preserve the intangible cultural heritage and help women in ethnic minority regions improve their living standards and social status.

"In the past 30 years, many exquisite Miao embroidery techniques have rapidly been lost. Many older people in their 60s or 70s are now the last remaining practitioners of a particularstyleof embroidery," said Deng Li, chief content officer of Marie Claire China, and the program's initiator.

"Our aim is, on the one hand, to protect and revive traditional Miao embroidery, and, at the same time, to encourage the fashion industry to inject modern design into this ancient art form."