Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei’s golden touch gives life to her couture

Dec 2 , 2017

Although fast fashion is becoming the industry norm, Guo Pei prefers to take the time to perfect her high fashion garments

The saying “time is gold” probably means something different to Guo Pei than to others. One of the Chinese couturier’s signature pieces, Da Jing (literally magnificent gold), which features gold threads and embroideries and featured at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, took 500 artisans about 50,000 hours to create.

At The Metropolitan Museum of Arts ‘China: Through The Looking Glass’ exhibit, the juxtaposition of a modern day Guo Pei gold gown featuring a traditionally Western profile and ancient Buddhist sculptures provides fresh insight into both while creating a dramatically interesting East meets West space. Photo: Vern Yip

“For me, time is life,” Guo says. “It takes time to give life to my designs. I feel it’s a transmission for I think a fascinating part of my work is the time I invest in them.”

Guo, who is a guest of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, which allows her to show in Paris twice a year during Paris Haute Couture Week, is one of China’s best-known fashion designers.

Chinese designer Guo Pei. Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

For her latest haute couture collection in Paris in July, Guo collaborated with high jeweller Chopard on a splendid series inspired by 1950s Hollywood screen sirens.

A model presents a creation by Guo Pei during the 2017-2018 autumn/winter Haute Couture collection in Paris on July 2, 2017. Photo: AFP

Lavish embroideries, intricate beadings and Chinoiserie details are her most iconic signatures. Guo launched to overnight fame when pop diva Rihanna wore one of her designs to The Met Ball in 2015 – an event attended by fashion heavyweights and A-list celebrities.

Rihanna arrives at the 2015 Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala benefit. Photo: AFP

Before the breakthrough, however, Guo had accumulated a solid fan base of affluent Chinese customers and celebrities including folk singer Song Zuying who wore one of her designs to the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.