From imagery of glistening gold drapery, fantastical animals, and Chinese stitching to fairy tales and color palettes - the collections of Guo Pei remain memorable to those who see them. Born in Beijing, Guo Pei is a well-renowned fashion designer who has curated the dresses of many celebrities and politicians. Beyond the memorable names of those she has designed fashion for, Guo Pei is celebrated as an artist who draws from traditional Chinese techniques of embroidery and fashion, while also incorporating inspirations from Western and contemporary work styles. With devotion to her culture, Guo Pei uses her work as a medium to bridge people from all cultures together, utilizing traditional craftsmanship to carry stories and celebrate her heritage. By sending the message that cultural heritage doesn't need to be given up for one to succeed in Western spaces, Guo Pei is beloved and looked to as a beacon of inspiration to Asian communities.

Her work embodies several significant messages. It is imperative to our liberation to not give up our selfhood but to find liberation within our identities. Art can be transformed into a medium to connect and liberate, especially seen where Guo Pei draws from a large variety of motifs and stories that all audience members can recognise as elements of her collections. As such, she adds a new dimension to Eastern and Western cultural exchange. Fashion design, it turns out, is a space of togetherness.

She expresses -

“I hope it brings greater awareness and understanding of my life’s passion, conveys Chinese culture and traditions, and shows the new face of contemporary China.”

'An Amazing Journey in a Childhood Dream'

'An Amazing Journey in a Childhood Dream 2'

Her work carries this reflection forward. Weaving traditional embroidery and painting into our contemporary world, Guo Pei finds innovative techniques to use such refined skills to tell stories and legends. In 'An Amazing Journey in a Childhood Dream', she reminisces on her childhood toys, memorized by the imagery of dolls and their delicate dresses. With this notion, 'An Amazing Journey in a Childhood Dream' plays on the imagery of dolls through costume design. Viewers are invited to admire the surreal piece that attributes a sense of realness through fashion design. The folds and pleats are distinctly nostalgic to a Chinese audience, as the drapery itself is drawn from her childhood toys. Strongly, the embroidered patterns take the form of traditional Chinese dress seen in royalty. Yet, a new dimension is added to the work from the usage of color palettes from French drawings in the 18th century as well as the impressionist era of paintings. These elements are woven together with thread work influenced by the dress of Spanish bullfighters. The work is not only hauntingly beautiful due to the choice of pastel colors and impressive texture work between the folds and pleats but also because it creates a cross-section that brings together various histories and cultures.

Guo Pei's immense care, gentleness and love towards her culture is translated delicately, yet stubbornly, in her work. Those belonging to the culture can rejoice when looking at the embroidered patterns mirroring the paintwork on traditional vases and the familiar, yet distant, fairy tales etched into the fabric through striking symbols. The collection 'East Palace' carries the history of the Qing Dynasty through its design, especially evident in the traditional symbols of royalty embroidered into fabrics of gold and red. The level of detail reflected in the weaving is breathtaking and demonstrates the importance of art-making to her. More than a return to the past, Guo Pei's work is timeless and allows us to recall histories in a contemporary context, teasing insight into the future through her creation.

Strongly, a sense of honor is carried in each piece - the brilliance of those who came before us is immortalized, and the limits of what the present can bring are overcome. Histories are encapsulated, but the shape of the design is stylized. Without letting go, we can celebrate where we came from and what came before us. From there, we can learn to conceptualize 'tomorrow'.

Rather than pieces about remembrance, her work transforms to embody another meaning by adding innovations to tradition. Pushing beyond the limitations of the past and future, Guo Pei elevates her limits by exploring her dream-like imaginings beyond what is material and concrete. In ‘Alternate Universe’, she plays on themes of death and reincarnation, presenting her inner dialogue and unrestrained imagination. She approaches the concept of the afterlife by representing it as a parallel universe in her work. What may appear daunting is re-framed as serene when Guo Pei delves creatively into exploring the complexity of being. Rather than approaching her imagination of the afterlife hopelessly, she instead showcases themes of death and reincarnation as a return to the most natural condition of existence. There is a sense of silence and pureness, where the work tells us that what appears to be opposites can indeed co-exist. Death is approached as a dream. Even angels and demons are side-by-side. The end returns to the beginning, and everything comes back together in the end as if returning. Using 3D embroidery, animal symbolism and references to fairy tales, Guo Pei re-conceptualizes humanness through engagement with the art of creation.

Unshakably, Guo Pei uses fashion as a threshold that carries the world back and forth between her and her viewers. Her work is a translation of self and a realm of co-existence between dreams, fantasy, history and identity, where human limitations are broken over and re-invented. For Chinese people, creatives and even people who casually find images of her work - Guo Pei's collections teach us that our stories, histories and imaginations are important, and never to be forgotten.

Guo Pei:
Website: https://www.guopei.com
Instagram: @guopei

Article by Kairui Cheng, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Design Coordinator, PhotoBook Magazine
Photo References

Guo, P., & Lian, X. (2007). An Amazing Journey in a Childhood Dream, Fall/Winter 2007. Fine Arts

Museum of San Francisco. https://www.artoftheancestors.com/blog/guo-pei-legion-of-honor

Guo, P., & Lian, X. (2019). East Palace, Spring 2019. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

https://www.artoftheancestors.com/blog/guo-pei-legion-of-honor

Guo, P., & Sexton, G. (2019). Installation of Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy at the Legion of Honor Museum.

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. https://www.artoftheancestors.com/blog/guo-pei-legion-of-honor

Guo, P., & Lian, X. (2019a). Alternate Universe. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

https://www.artoftheancestors.com/blog/guo-pei-legion-of-honor

Guo Pei - Beyond Past and Future