Objective  The patterns on the garments worn by Han Chinese women in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China are complex and profound in meaning, which are a typical case of China's traditional costume culture. By exploring the layout, color and meaning characteristics of the patterns of Han Chinese women's garments in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, we innovatively apply them to the design of modern leather women's bags to expand the contemporary application dimension of traditional costume patterns.

Methods  Twenty Han Chinese women's garments from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China are selected as the research objects. The YOLOv8 detection model and K-means algorithm are used to analyze the pattern layout and color characteristics and summarize the cultural meaning of the patterns. On this basis, the analyzed pattern features are innovatively applied to the design practice of leather women's bags.

Results  The patterns on the front and back of Han Chinese women's garments in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China show a high degree of similarity, which is almost mirror-symmetric, and the pattern on one side of the costume itself is symmetrical along the central axis, which verifies that the layout of the costume pattern follows the formal law of symmetry or balance. In costume patterns, the distance between large patterns is relatively close, resulting in a relatively clustered relationship, forming the core pattern of the overall costume; the distance between large patterns and small patterns is relatively far, resulting in a relatively separated relationship, forming the regional division between the main pattern and the auxiliary pattern; the distance between small patterns is moderate, resulting in a relatively evenly dispersed relationship, forming the auxiliary pattern of the overall costume. The contrast between the fabric color and the pattern of the costume is sharp, highlighting the visual effect of the pattern; the color of some costume patterns is a single hue, and the gradient is obvious, highlighting the layered visual effect; the color of some costume patterns contains multiple hues, and the color saturation is similar, creating a mutually integrated, harmonious and unified visual effect; the theme of the pattern implies that there are many children and many blessings, wealth and auspiciousness. Through the design methods of simplification, induction and reorganization, the peony, chrysanthemum, bat and peach patterns extracted from costume are reconstructed, and at the same time, reasonable colors are matched to continue the auspicious meaning. The final designed leather women's bag is expected to appeal to the target customers.

Conclusion  The patterns on Han Chinese women's garments in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China have distinct rules of formal beauty and color matching techniques, and carry profound auspicious cultural connotations. This study systematically analyzes these features through the YOLOv8 detection model and the K-means algorithm, and verifies the feasibility of their innovative application in the design of leather women's bags, providing an effective path for the living inheritance and modern transformation of traditional costume patterns.