Fashion weaves ties

Designer Guo Pei's work draws inspiration from Chinese and Western artistic traditions, Lia Zhu reports in San Francisco.

An exhibition, featuring a Chinese couturier, will give audiences in the United States an opportunity to discover the historical interactions between China and the West through craftsmanship and embroidery.

The exhibition, Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy, presents more than 80 ensembles of the designer from the past two decades, including her most important fashion collections shown on Beijing and Paris runways.

Many designs have never been shown to the public before.

The exhibits are on display at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco through Sept 5.

"San Francisco, with our position on the Pacific Rim and our significant Chinese heritage, is a natural location to premiere the first major museum exhibition on Guo Pei's work, and we are delighted to present her exquisite designs to US audiences," says Thomas Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Drawing inspiration from Chinese and European artistic traditions, Guo hopes to foster intercultural understanding and a greater sense of connection through her work, says Campbell.

"We hope this presentation would encourage visitors to consider the rich historical ties between China and the West. We hope that our audiences feel a true sense of community around our exhibition."

Born in Beijing in 1967, Guo graduated with a major in fashion design from Beijing Second Light Industry School in 1986.

Three years later, she became chief designer at one of Beijing's first privately owned clothing companies. She left the company in 1997 to form her own company, Rose Studio Couture, in Beijing.

She got international attention in 2015 when her creation hit the cover of Vogue magazine and the front page of The New York Times after pop icon Rihanna wore her design, a fur-trimmed yellow cape at the Met Gala. In 2016, she made her Paris haute-couture debut and was named on the Business of Fashion's 500 list of the most influential people shaping the global fashion industry.

Guo's work and artistic approach are both deeply rooted in her heritage, and the trajectory of her career is also emblematic of China's emergence as a fashion leader, says Jill D'Alessandro, curator in charge of costume and textile arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Hoping to revive traditional needlework and embroidery that had diminished during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) in China, Guo and her team have developed their own interpretation of the traditional arts over the course of several decades, says D'Alessandro.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is Da Jin ("magnificent gold"), a gold-brocade gown completed in 2005.

"The dress is beautifully wrapped in gold thread embroidery and took a total of two years or 50,000 hours to complete," says D'Alessandro.

"For Guo, it represents both the rebirth of Chinese culture and the start of her artistic career."

The dress is embroidered using a gold-couching technique, creating a repeat pattern of the lotus pod and trailing plants－symbols of everlasting exuberance and purity of mind in Chinese culture.

Floral motifs, associated with traditional notions of femininity, have a long history in Chinese decorative arts and textiles and appear frequently in Guo's designs.

China's imperial past and the country's vast cultural history was the focus for her East Palace collection.

Inspired by a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) court dress, Guo presented an overview of the traditional Chinese dress and design elements, with elaborate three-dimensional pale gold embroidery of dragons, birds and flowers.