Opinion | Dramatic open to Singapore Couture Week

Singapore Couture Week opened Tuesday night with a dramatic show by Beijing-based couturier Guo Pei. She was followed by Thailand's Asava, Hong Kong's Barney Cheng and Mongolia's Torgo.

Even though the show was 90 minutes late and lasted a staggering one hour (almost unheard of), excited crowds were full of anticipation for the designer's opening dramatics.

Kicking off a week that brings Asian couturiers with Western Paris based ones, Pei's ode to Imperial China in 'Legend of the Dragon' was as dramatic as it sounds. But when we met Guo backstage though, three hours before show time, the designer seemed incredibly zen.

Guo's stunning workmanship and penchant for the theatrical and ornamental had the French foreign fashion press sitting next to me muttering "c'est incroyable!" throughout her catwalk.