Widely acclaimed Chinese designer Guo Pei, whom you may know from Rihanna’s famous yellow Met Gala dress, is bringing an absolutely captivating exhibition to the Legion of Honor now through November 27. The exhibition was extended an extra 2 months after drawing over 130,000 visitors in just 18 weeks — making it one of the Fine Arts Museums’ most popular fashion exhibitions in the past decade.
Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy is an exclusive presentation of pieces from Beijing and Paris runways, showcasing intricate craftsmanship, embroidery, unconventional dressmaking, and more. Visit a fantasy world that presents looks inspired by China’s imperial history, European court life, architecture, and botany.
Visitors will have the opportunity to see over 80 of Guo Pei’s best works from the last 2 decades, including many creations that have never been shown to the public. The show will be presented exclusively at the Legion of Honor, with some of Guo Pei’s most opulent designs displayed within the museum’s permanent galleries.
This allows visitors to identify certain historical and iconographical references in the artist’s work. For example, see Guo Pei’s gold-embroidered “Dajing” or (“Magnificent Gold”) ensemble presented among the museum’s existing collection of French and Italian Baroque and Rococo art.
The special exhibition galleries will be dedicated to several of Guo Pei’s main runway collections. An Amazing Journey in a Childhood Dream (2008) presents playful and theatrical designs in Chinese fashion. Garden of Soul (2015) and Elysium (2018) consider floral motifs in the context of Chinese textiles and basket-weaving. Legend (2017) and L’Architecture (2018-2019) explore European architectural elements in fashion. The exhibition finale will showcase Alternate Universe (2019-2020), an examination of reincarnation and the afterlife. This exclusive presentation of Guo Pei’s work will present these and other must-see collections.
China became a leader in the fashion world at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and Guo Pei is considered to be China’s first couturier. She has dressed celebrities, royalty, and more for two decades, and now employs over 500 artisans who produce her innovative visions. She has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and one of Business of Fashion’s BoF 500.
Be sure to put Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy on your radar before it ends on November 27, 2022. This unbelievable exhibition is created exclusively for the Legion of Honor, and is sure to astound. The collection comes courtesy of the Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Department of Textile Arts, which has showcased popular displays of costume and textile arts, most recently Contemporary Muslim Fashions (2018) and Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love (2021).
Find the Legion of Honor at Lincoln Park, 100 34th Avenue in San Francisco.