UPFRONT / Close-Up

TREASURING TRADITION Couturier Guo Pei and photographer Russel Wong are captivated by history’s singular charms

BY HONG XINYI

Like books, Guo Pei’s couture gowns have names, and they contain stories. Palace Flowers, for instance, is a 2012 piece that features 5,500 silk peonies, and the Beijing-born designer tells us a tale about these delicate blossoms that is “A COUNTRY’S simply enchanting. Chinese artisans used to shape and paint such silk CULTURE IS flowers by hand, and her maternal grandmother had worn LIKE ITS SOUL; some in her hair on her wedding day. During the Cultural Revolution, which started in 1966 and lasted a decade, she WITHOUT threw away all her jewellery and fine clothes for fear of being persecuted. But she kept her silk flowers, and when CULTURE, A Guo Pei was a good girl, her grandmother would let her have a glimpse of them. “I was never able to find out where CIVILISATION she hid the flowers,” the couturier tells us as she gives us a WILL NOT BE tour of the Guo Pei: Chinese Art & Couture exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM). “Looking at them was a RESPECTED.” gift I really cherished.” Many years later, when she started asking around for craftsmen to teach her the technique of making these flowers, Guo Pei realised that the trade no longer existed. culture. “A country’s culture is But someone who used to own one of these artisan like its soul; without culture, a workshops pointed her to a warehouse that still stored civilisation will not be respected.” some of these handcrafted blossoms. With few reference materials There, squashed in dust-covered cardboard boxes, she extant in China, however, Guo found 5,500 silk peonies—the last remnants of an extinct Pei had to look elsewhere for species. She breathed new life into them by incorporating inspiration. In a 2010 travelling them into the Palace Flowers dress. “So the flowers on this exhibition Baba Bling: The Peranakan dress are irreplaceable. They are the result of skills that Chinese of Singapore in Paris’ Musee existed in the past, symbols of a Chinese cultural memory.” du Quai Branly, she came across a Indeed, the deft way she weaves pride in her Chinese 1930s Peranakan bridal outfit—a heritage into the narration of her design ethos is a piece from ACM’s collection. Its unique persimmon hue and by Russel Wong for the tome, and the homegrown celebrity cameo in the movie adaptation—laughs, and suggests: masterclass in the art of storytelling. Take the origin story vibrant embroidery captivated her, and greatly influenced photographer had a unique take on the project. “These dresses would be perfect for the Crazy Rich Asians of Guo Pei’s move into designing traditional bridal wear, the bridal outfit she would eventually design for Chinese He decided to light the mannequins more evocatively, sequel. They are so intricate and rich in tradition, and which is today a significant part of her business. When celebrity Angelababy, who married actor Huang Xiaoming the same way he would a real woman. “For me, it was would look fantastic on film.” she first started exploring the idea in 2009, though, the in 2015. no different from shooting Zhang Ziyi or Michelle Yeoh,” As for himself, the lensman is currently working on feedback she received was quite discouraging. The Peranakan outfit and Angelababy’s bridal ensemble says Wong, best known for photographing Asian and a decade-long project of documenting Kyoto’s geisha “Many Chinese women now dream of wearing Western- are both part of the ACM exhibition, which ends on Hollywood superstars. “I wanted to bring life and soul to communities. “It encompasses costume, theatre, style white bridal gowns, and people told me they felt September 15. But those seeking a lasting memento of the photographs.” architecture, people—everything I love. It took me a few traditional outfits were unsophisticated.” But this petite this blockbuster experience can check out the exhibition Ask him which of his celebrity subjects would be a years to gain entry to this community and earn their trust, powerhouse felt strongly that the clothes adorning a catalogue of the same name, which will continue to be good fit for Guo Pei’s creations, and Wong—who was and I really want to tell the story of this world where time

woman on her wedding day should be rooted in her own stocked at ACM. Guo Pei’s creations were lovingly captured WONG RUSSEL PHOTOGRAPHY: namechecked in the Crazy Rich Asians book and had a has just stood still.”