Guo Pei, who designed that Rihanna dress, makes Paris couture splash
Fashion designer the West discovered when singer wore stunning yellow dress to 2015 Met gala shows a collection of classic silhouettes embellished with sumptuous Chinese embroidery
Until Rihanna wore a spectacular yellow-embroidered, fur-trimmed dress and cape to the Metropolitan Museum gala in May 2015, the name Guo Pei meant nothing to the West’s fashion crowd. Despite the designer being widely known in Asia, having dressed Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, worked in Chinese opera and operated a large couture atelier in Beijing, Guo had stayed under the radar. Not any more. And this week she showed a stunning collection on the haute couture catwalks of Paris.
Guo believes it is her responsibility to convey China’s traditions and its past through her designs as well as redefining couture in China today. She cleverly concentrated her artistry on pieces that could be worn on her pretty pastel and mandarin yellow dresses, or removed and worn separately.