Fashion fanatics, get ready for a feast for the senses. Chinese designer Guo Pei is set to display works from previous collections at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco.
Highly respected as China’s first couturier, Pei is known for her unique styles and refined technique. She launched her first label in 1997, and her current atelier has more than 500 employees to bring her wildest visions to life. The museum exhibit, titled Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy, will be on display from April 16 to Sept. 5, 2022.
Pei’s creations often involve a hodgepodge of both Chinese imperial culture and history as well as European style. The pieces that will be on display at the museum will include more than 110 pieces featured on Beijing and Paris runways.
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She was the first Chinese member to join the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture of the high-fashion industry, which gave Pei the opportunity to participate in the Paris Haute Couture show in 2016.
Pei creates a fantasy that fuses the influences of China’s imperial past, decorative arts, European architecture, and the botanical world. The exhibit traces Pei’s role in the revival of Imperial history and art. Moreover, her works display the perfect balance between art and fashion.
“As a creator and artist, there is no greater honour or privilege than to share my creativity with a wider audience," Pei is quoted in a press release. "I am therefore honoured and humbled that the prestigious Legion of Honor Museum will be presenting a retrospective of my work. In doing so, I hope that it will bring greater awareness and understanding of my life’s passion, and that through the artistry of couture and universal language of art that it will foster cross-cultural appreciation, connections, and ideas.”
Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy will feature several galleries each with distinct themes and collections from the past. For example, Gallery 3 will feature pieces from Pei's Legend Collection of Spring 2017, while Gallery 5 will include pieces from her collection titled Himalaya, from Spring and Summer of 2020.
"The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have a longstanding commitment to costume and textile art, with a collection that is truly global in scope, and an exhibition program that highlights only extraordinary artists, those that have changed the course of fashion history," Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, is quted. "We are particularly excited to present the groundbreaking work of Guo Pei ... The sculptural nature and iconographical references used in her work will be all the more amplified by the neo-classical architecture and collections at the Legion of Honor. San Francisco, with our position on the Pacific Rim, and 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 elegant designs, deeply rooted in ancient Chinese tradition to US audiences."
A stunning opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with one of the most visionary designers of our time, you can learn more about the forthcoming Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy exhibit via the Legion of Honor's website.
Photography by: Courtesy Legion of Honor Museum San Francisco; Lian Xu, (c) Guo Pei
