A handful of people in China are challenging people's conventional mind-set about fruits and vegetables. Summer favorites like lettuce and watermelon can also turn into something wearable. Let's see some of the crazy ideas about making fashion out of food.

Gao Yuanyuan, draped in a gown made of lettuce leaves and a red chili pepper necklace, made a clear statement: vegetarianism is sexy.

student Yang Bowei is an sculptor who prefers edible material to create his art. And it must pretty good, because he won third place recently at an international competition on the island.

His latest achievements are these cute hats sculpted out of watermelons. His deft hands have little problem creating a pig or a warrior's armor by simply moving his knife over a watermelon.

He claims that the hats are not only exceptional in looks, but also very cool for your head in the sweltering summer time.

As meat consumption continues to rise, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals employs foxy Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan as "Lettuce Lady" to encourage consumers to kick meat off from their menu and go vegetarian.

Gao, draped in a gown made of lettuce leaves and a red chili pepper necklace, made a clear statement: vegetarianism is sexy.

A devoted herbivore, Gao said she became a vegetarian in November 2009.

Gao Yuanyuan, Chinese Actress, said, "After going vegetarian, I feel so much lighter. When I first started the vegetarian diet, I was not used to it and so I ate starchy foods in big amounts so I gained a little bit of weight. Still, I felt much more energetic. After that, I regained my figure and stopped gaining weight, and that has remained consistent."

Chinese have historically maintained a vegetable heavy diet, but as incomes and living standards rise among China's growing middle class, many people are eating meat more often.

Aside from devout Buddhists, vegetarianism does not have a strong following in China, as many prefer a balanced diet that includes animal proteins.

Nevertheless, vegetarian and vegan restaurants have sprouted up in urban centers. In fact, Beijing has more than one hundred vegetarian restaurants that cater to these tastes.