At what point does fashion morph into art? Find out for yourself at Guo Pei: Fashioning Imagination, the first high-fashion exhibition at M+ in the West Kowloon Cultural District, where the dazzling body of work of iconic Chinese couturier Guo Pei is on full exhibit.
Displayed in five chapters, pieces of extraordinary size, shape, colour, conception, and gravity-defying execution have been brought in from all parts of the world. A gold-painted bamboo structure festooned with flowers, a Ming-dynasty vase-patterned and -shaped dress, headgear studded with jewels, an overlong red wedding gown and veil sparkling with sequins—there’s a cinematic and surreal look and feel to each piece, one that’s beyond wearable art.
On elevated mannequins, the larger-than-life exhibition exudes the rare alchemy that emerges when couture and culture meet. It’s all colour, fabric, embroidery, gold, glitz, and glamour to the nth power as the designer’s formidable skills tango in tandem with canvases of extraordinary art, photography, and sculptures of other artists complimenting the fashion pieces. With gowns on the foreground, and art in the background, visitors are subsumed by the vivid imagination of several great creators of breathtaking talent and mastery.
Global fame came to the shy and demure couturier in 2015, when Guo created that outfit for Rihanna at the Met Gala in 2015. Guo was met with international fame when the world took note of the golden cape, cascading off the shoulders of a pop princess, who needed four men in her wake to carry the rich fabric behind her. As Rihanna posed and preened to the teeming photographers, the look of hand-embroidered patterns, chinoiserie, gold, glitter, crystals, and exquisite detailing perfectly incarnated the theme China: Through the Looking Glass.
In China, and through most of Asia, Guo’s extraordinary and extravagant outfits are known to many, although affordable to few. More than wearable fashion, her painstakingly-brought-to-life creations are one rare thread away from being seen as sculptural art—take, for instance, a golden gown of intricate latticework that took over 10,000 hours to complete. In our opinion, the shoes on display below the bellowing gowns, standing at seven to nine inches above ground, are formed with equally artful and artisanal skills, and deserve their own exhibition.
Guo merges Chinese cultural heritage with international elements in her creations, where her unique artistic style brings together historical imperial Chinese dress etiquette, erstwhile traditional craftsmanship that she is desperately trying to revive, nods to European imperial fashion and architecture, and the Parisian botanical world. All of that in several gowns, and in one exhibition that runs at the M+ museum until April 2025.
Guo Pei: Fashioning Imagination
21 September 2024–6 April 2025
M+, 38 Museum Drive, West Kowloon Cultural District
All original images by Chris Yau, shot exclusively for Robb Report Hong Kong.
