Tainan Embroidery Amulet by Yi-Pei Wu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Bronze A' Design Award in Giftware Design Competition Category.
BronzeGiftware· 2026
Tainan Embroidery Amulet
by Yi-Pei Wu
Client: Tainan Embroidery Trade Association
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Giftware Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #181245The Design
About Tainan Embroidery Amulet
Tainan Embroidery is a collection of amulets and a tote bag made with machine embroidery factories in Tainan, Taiwan. Temple motifs, such as deity figures, carved pillars and old tapestries, are redrawn as modern patterns. The Dragon amulet joins a density of 40,000 stitches with printing for fine scales, while the Love amulet applies lingerie lace technology and holds incense ashes in an inner mesh pocket. The tote bag is made from circular yarn spun from leftover factory threads. The collection turns traditional amulets into everyday cultural objects.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Tainan Embroidery Amulet is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Tainan Embroidery Amulet is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Tainan Embroidery Amulet splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Interviews
Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
The driving idea behind this design is to rediscover confidence and pride in our own heritage. While deeply inspired by the art of Japanese Omamori, my goal was to create a Taiwanese counterpart that is just as beautifully made. It is a statement that we possess the same high-level capability, while staying authentic to our own identity rather than mimicking others.
What are your future plans for this award winning design?
I have formed partnership with some of the artists, and we have more in mind for this type of crafts. We plan to use this as an anchor for a series of amulets we will be curating in the future.
How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
It was a 5 months long project, the direction was clear from the beginning, yet the details were formed during this process, as I was working closely with the other artists, the manufacturers, and the representatives from the temple.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Tainan Embroidery unites factories in Tainan to showcase industrial excellence. Highlights include an amulet with 40000 stitches and another using delicate lingerie lace technology, a unique cross-industry application. The tote bag, designed specifically for temple ritual gifts, is made from circular yarn up cycled from factory leftover threads. Merging religious heritage with upcoming artists, Tainan Embroidery transforms invisible Original Equipment Manufacturer into a cultural brand, turning traditional amulets into collectible high-end art.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Tote bag: 360 mm x 120 mm x 180 mm
Tiger Deity amulet: 105 mm x 8 mm x 80 mm
Cloud amulet: 100 mm x 5 mm x 75 mm
Love amulet: 45 mm x 3 mm x 130 mm
Wisdom amulet: unfold 45 mm x 5 mm x 235 mm, fold 45 mm x 8 mm x 70 mm
Dragon amulet: 65 mm x 5 mm x 75 mm
Watch amulet: Radius 50 mm, Depth 12 mm - Tags
- Cultural Heritage, Contemporary Amulet, Sustainable Bag, Machine Embroidery, Upcycled Textiles, Wearable Art, Spiritual Design, Oriental Aesthetics, Cross Industry Manufacturing
- Production Technology
- The lingerie-tech Love amulet features a monolithic hollow design, integrating the cord through iterative prototyping, with inner mesh pockets for incense ashes. The Dragon edition combines 40,000-stitch density with printing for delicate scales. The tote uses circular yarn, which is up-cycled factory remnants, overlaid with translucent mesh to create a cloud-like effect. To secure these recycled threads, a dense embroidery layout was engineered, turning material constraints into a modern aesthetic.
- Design Challenge
- The core challenge was resolving complex cross-disciplinary conflicts under severe time constraints:
Craft Constraints: Adapting modern design to strict small-scale embroidery limits.
Mindset Shift: Persuading struggling factories to prioritize R&D over a cost-driven OEM mentality.
Sacred Innovation: Balancing novel aesthetics with temple traditions and religious sanctity.
All achieved under a highly compressed grant schedule. - Research
- This research investigates the intersection of cultural heritage and industrial manufacturing. Through ethnographic studies and technical consultations, sacred motifs like the One-Character Plaque are translated into a modern visual language. Key innovations include sustainable circular yarns and high-density hollow-out lace techniques. User-centric methodologies ensure optimal ergonomics, creating a seamless alignment between spiritual symbols and contemporary lifestyle.
- Inspiration
- Tainan has been the embroidery hub of Taiwan. While many offshored, few resilient factories stayed, preserving high quality machine embroidery. Yet, facing the cheap competitors, these makers need to evolve from suppliers into recognised brands. Hence Tainan Embroidery is launched, partnering with Tiantan Temple, we innovate their most stable demand: religious textiles. Artists deconstructed temple visual heritage, such as deity statues, handcrafted pillars, and ancient tapestries, into modern motifs.
- Project Duration
- The project started in July 2025 and finished in December 2025 in Tainan, Taiwan.
- Operation Flow
- The design encourages tactile engagement through ritualistic interactions. The Wisdom amulet features a hidden lace element that users can pull out and tuck back, symbolising the unveiling of wisdom. The Tiger Deity amulet includes a detachable cloak, allowing users to interact with the deity’s protective layers. These playful, transformative elements bridge the gap between traditional sacred objects and modern lifestyle accessories, enhancing the user's bond with the culture.
- Team Members
- Design Strategy: Ting-Han Chen
Strategy Consultant: Chung-Jen Lu
Creative Director: Yi-Pei Wu
Artist: Yu-Ning Zhou
Artist: Szu-Yu Hou
Artist: Shang-Ru Tsai - Image Credits
- Image #1: Creator Yi-Pei Wu / the amulet set, 2025
Image #2: Photographer Felan Wu / the up-cycled yarn tote bag, 2025
Image #3: Photographer Yi-Pei Wu / the cloud amulet, 2025
Image #4: Photographer Yi-Pei Wu / the dragon amulet, 2025
Image #5: Photographer Felan Wu / the Tiger Deity amulet, 2025
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