Chinese couturier Guo Pei made international headlines when pop sensation Rihanna wore Guo’s The Yellow Queen gown to the 2015 Met Gala. Weighing 25 kilograms and featuring a 4-meter-long train, the ensemble is now on display at Hong Kong’s M+ museum, in an exhibition of more than 40 haute couture creations, covering the fashion designer’s nearly four-decade-long career.

Guo Pei: Fashioning Imagination is the Beijing-based fashion designer’s first major showcase in East Asia.

Ikko Yokoyama, lead curator of Design and Architecture at M+, points out that there is more to Guo’s creations than merely fashion. “Her highly imaginative and cross-cultural work shares a distinctive approach and methodology with many artists and makers represented in the M+ Collections, so we wanted to create a network of visual and thematic ideas across different media, eras, and cultures while displaying her stunning haute couture garments at the center of the exhibition.”

ALSO READ: Dressed to the 11s

M+ Museum Director Suhanya Raffel waxes eloquent on how Guo has combined “historic craftsmanship and global inspirations to significantly build a vocabulary that is unique to popular culture today”. She adds that the juxtaposition of works by Guo and artworks from the museum collections expands the scope of the exhibition and “prompts dialogues around the question of contemporary visual culture”.  

“Thirty-seven artists from M+ Collections are in dialogue with Guo Pei’s garments in this exhibition,” Yokoyama explains. “Some of them share similar approaches and concepts, such as modernizing tradition, like the works of Aisha Khalid, AD Pirous, Irene Chou, T’ang Haywen; or more direct appropriation in craft material and technique, including Isamu Noguchi and Gunjan Gupta.” She adds that “the ephemerality of nature is an endless theme for many artists and makers, including Yung Ho Chang, Cao Jingping and Yoko Ono” as it is for Guo.

Mystery and majesty

At the exhibition opening, The Yellow Queen turns out to be a veritable crowd pleaser. “It stands out for its vibrant color and the way it captures the essence of regal elegance. The craftsmanship is impeccable,” says exhibition visitor Vangie Tang.

Ruby Fung, a fashion designer-turned-gallerist familiar with Guo’s creations, sounds particularly pleased with the show’s curation. “Each piece touches you deeply, showcasing meticulous attention to detail, exceptional craftsmanship, and Guo’s bold creativity,” she says. Her favorite piece is The Qing-hua Porcelain from Guo’s 1002 Nights collection (2009). “I admire how she translates the elegance of a porcelain vase into a dress. The silhouette, the curves and the drape are simply exquisite. And the extraordinary headpiece that includes a real vase is nothing short of stunning.”

Another exhibition visitor, Cecilia Mao, casts her vote in favor of Da Jin (Magnificent Gold), which took more than 50,000 hours to complete and blends traditional Oriental craftsmanship with Western motifs. The gown’s entire surface is embroidered with gold thread from India and consists of 29 vertical panels with a repetitive lotus pattern. “It exudes a mysterious and majestic aura, as if it is silently telling ancient stories. The beauty and impact of this piece are truly beyond words; it invites the viewer to pause and admire its artistry in quiet contemplation.”

All eyes were on The Gold Boat from Guo’s 2018 Elysium Collection. An upturned bamboo hull crafted by master weavers from Huangshan, in East China’s Anhui province, serves as the farthingale of the piece. Covered in golden lattice, metallic flowers, and spiky branches, the gown is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

ALSO READ: The green touch

The Gold Boat’s journey to M+ sounds almost as dramatic as the gown itself. “It caused a mini fight between M+ and another museum that wanted to exhibit it,” says Yokoyama. Finally it was her innovative idea to display the mannequin wearing the piece like a rotating doll in a music box that won Guo over.

If you go

Guo Pei: Fashioning Imagination

Dates: Through April 6

Venue: M+, Museum Drive, West Kowloon Cultural District, Kowloon

www.mplus.org.hk/en/exhibitions/guo-pei/