Chinese designer Guo Pei to hold first UK show

Chinese couturier Guo Pei, famed for designing Rihanna’s show-stopping yellow gown worn at the 2015 Met Gala in New York, will stage her first fashion show in the United Kingdom.

The show will be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, known as the V&A, in London as part of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the museum’s Fashion in Motion series.

The Chinese designer will showcase looks from her Autumn/Winter 2019/20 collection, Alternate Universe Couture at the V&A’s Raphael Gallery on Nov 1. The collection debuted at this year’s Paris Couture Week.

“I am very pleased to be the featured designer of V&A’s Fashion in Motion 20th anniversary show,” Guo said. “The V&A is a historic platform, preserving and celebrating art and design in many forms, from many cultures and very often spanning many centuries. I feel fortunate to be included onto V&A’s platform and very much look forward to the collaboration.”

Fashion in Motion is a free event enabling the public to enjoy a catwalk show by leading international designers.

Previous designers featured in its 20-year history include Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Yohji Yamamoto.

The V&A said the pioneering series shows fashion as it is meant to be seen, in movement, bringing the designs to life.

Guo is one of China’s most renowned designers, and in 2015 she shot onto the international stage when superstar Rihanna wore one of her designs to fashion’s biggest annual event, the Met Gala (the Costume Institute Gala at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art), which was holding the exhibition China: Through the Looking Glass.

Guo followed that moment with her first solo exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and, later that year, became the first Chinese guest member of the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, the international body that brings together international fashion brands and promotes fashion culture.

Through her designs, Guo showcases the finest of traditional Chinese craftsmanship while incorporating contemporary innovation. Her designs take inspiration from myths, legends, religion, architecture and her own cultural heritage.

Oriole Cullen, V&A fashion curator, said: “Guo Pei’s work demonstrates the height of what can be achieved in the skilled ateliers (workshops) of an haute couture house. We are delighted to be working with Guo Pei, to showcase a selection of garments from her uniquely beautiful Alternate Universe collection.”

I am very pleased to be the featured designer of V&A’s Fashion in Motion 20th anniversary show.” Guo Pei, Chinese couturier