Designer Guo Pei's 'Couture Beyond' exhibition opens in California

Chinese couturier Guo Pei's "Couture Beyond" exhibition opened to the public Saturday at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana in southern California, featuring 40 extraordinary creations from her most dramatic runway shows.

Organized by the Bowers Museum in collaboration with Guo's Rose Studios, SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film and SCAD: The University for Creative Careers, the event is the west coast premiere of "Guo Pei: Couture Beyond" exhibition in the United States.

Running until July 14, the exhibition traces the evolution of Guo's design sensibility over 20 years of production and underlines the world acclaimed Chinese designer's impact on the fashion world and beyond.

Coutures designed by Guo Pei are on display. /VCG Photo

As one of China's most renowned couturier, Guo has been dressing celebrities, distinguished ladies, royalty and political elite who turn to her for show-stopping, magnificent creations. She is the first Chinese designer invited to join France's Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.

Guo's designs were worn by performers at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and CCTV's annual New Year's Gala. She was launched into the international spotlight as the designer of pop singer Rihanna's dress for the Met Gala in 2015.

Coutures designed by Guo Pei are on display. /VCG Photo

"While incorporating contemporary innovation, I try my best to showcase the finest of traditional craftsmanship and Chinese culture via my creations," said Guo, adding that Chinese designer's impact on the world fashion industry grows up with the deepening of China's reform and opening up and the expansion of its influence over the past few decades.

"I love my homeland, I love Chinese culture, that's the inspiration of my design," she told Xinhua.