HOMI was founded to share the beauty of Eastern intangible heritage with the world. We begin with Ronghua — the thousand-year-old Chinese art of shaping pure mulberry silk into flowers that never fade — and reimagine it as modern wearable art, handmade piece by piece for a global audience. Each brooch is a quiet ambassador of Eastern aesthetics: not a relic of the past, but a living tradition, made to be worn, gifted, and kept across cultures.
A Flower That Never Fades
HOMI creates handcrafted Chinese Ronghua (绒花) velvet flower brooches — wearable fine art made from 100% natural mulberry silk.
Ronghua is a heritage craft that originated in the imperial court workshops of the Tang Dynasty, more than a thousand years ago, and is today recognized as part of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage. The name itself carries a wish: rong for velvet, hua for flower — and a homophone for glory and prosperity. Unlike a fresh bloom, a Ronghua flower never wilts. That is why, for centuries, it has been given as a symbol of enduring love, resilience, and good fortune.
We started HOMI to take this art out of the museum case and back into daily life — onto a coat lapel, a knit cardigan, a scarf, or into the hands of someone you cherish.
Watch the Craft
This independent documentary by Curious Earth introduces Nanjing Ronghua, the thousand-year-old craft behind our brooches. It was not filmed in HOMI's workshop — it is shared here so you can see the tradition our work draws on.
From Palace Headdress to Modern Brooch
In the Qing court, ronghua was worn in the hair. History records that Empress Fucha — famed for her frugality — wore velvet flowers in place of pearls and jade. The craft found a whole new audience in 2018, when the hit drama Story of Yanxi Palace brought it back to the screen: Nanjing velvet-flower master Zhao Shuxian and his apprentices handcrafted 19 styles of headdresses for the production, modeled on hair ornaments preserved in the Palace Museum.
HOMI takes that palace hair ornament and reimagines it for modern life — as a brooch. The silk, the wire, and the slow hand-twisting are unchanged. What has changed is where the flower lives: not only in a museum case or on screen, but on your coat, your cardigan, your scarf — worn and seen every day.
How Each Piece Is Made
Every HOMI brooch begins as pure mulberry silk thread and fine copper wire. There are no machines shaping the petals.
Our artisans twist, shear, and sculpt the silk fibers by hand, building up the soft, velvety texture petal by petal. It is slow work — hours of patient handwork go into a single piece — and it is exactly that slowness we want to preserve. Because each brooch is made entirely by hand, no two pieces are perfectly identical. Small variations are not flaws; they are the signature of the maker.
Meanings You Can Wear — and Give
Each design in our Imperial Silk Velvet Brooches collection carries a traditional meaning:
- Bamboo — resilience and integrity; it bends in the wind but does not break.
- Ginkgo — longevity, endurance, and lasting love.
Historically revered as "immortal flowers," Ronghua blooms never fade, which makes them a gift that keeps its meaning long after the day it is given — for birthdays, holidays, Mother's Day, or simply to tell someone they are truly cherished.
Ready to Give, Made to Keep
Every piece arrives in our signature celadon gift box, complete with a matching eco-friendly paper tote bag and an artisan certificate of heritage craftsmanship — ready to present, with no extra wrapping needed.
When you are not wearing your brooch, keep it in its gift box, away from moisture and direct sunlight, and it will hold its color and form for years to come.
Our Promise
- 100% mulberry silk — pure natural silk thread, never synthetic velvet.
- Master handcrafted — made with 1,000-year Tang heritage techniques.
- Free insured worldwide shipping — on every order, with no minimum spend, in its protective gift box.
- 30-day free returns — if it is not right, you have 30 days to return it.
HOMI is operated from Guangzhou, China. Questions about a piece, an order, or the craft itself are always welcome at care@homigift.com.