By Nicolas Brulez for Luxsure
Himalaya Collection Couture Spring-Summer 2020
“The Himalayas are a summit never reached, but one that has brought me countless dreams. The ancient land of snow, the place where souls rest. In my heart I draw its silhouette with precision. The masterly vertical peak of its snow-covered summit and the icy, silent cold cannot reduce its dazzling divine figure in my heart. For millennia, it has symbolized the path to truth, the home of the gods and the temple of the soul.
I love the white of the Himalayas. It’s the immaculate white that connects the snow-capped mountain with the sky. It is the dancing glee of snowflakes, the solitude of the majestic mountain. It is also the sparkling reflection of the sun’s rays as they kiss the eternal glacier. The white of the Himalayas is so pure, so innocent. It’s the color a soul should have, the purity finally achieved after much spiritual effort.
I love the height of the Himalayas, because it’s the height that leads to heaven, that no longer fears life or death, the paradise of good people, the other side of faith, the summit that contemplates and dominates the profane world.
I also love the silence of the Himalayas. From its height came solitude, from solitude came silence, from silence came purity, from purity came the sacred. ..
The Himalayas. On this ancient road, frozen for thousands of years, are engraved the footprints of lonely people in search of the Truth. With courage, they rise to the challenge of surpassing themselves. Braving death, they never abandon their faith, like the eternal lotus blooming in the snow.
On January 22, 2020, Guo Pei presents his collection at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. The palace, a pioneer of contemporary art, is transformed into a holy place, a white land of immaculate snow. The designer recounts the “Himalayas” of her imagination with 22 couture pieces.
The snow lotus is the central element of this new collection. This rare flower, which blooms in the snow at altitudes of several thousand meters, retains an uncommon purity. Its initial form is limpid and candid. Light, airy fabrics such as feathers, silk and veils are used by artisans to create snow lotus blooms that offer a dazzling spectacle. The stamens are made of crystal and pearls, from which spring natural strength and philosophical wisdom. Body-hugging white fabrics are also used, with designers employing high-density pleats and weaving techniques to reproduce the different natural states of snow: accumulation, melting and crystallization, recreating a snowy wonderland on the garment.
Guo Pei has chosen precious fabrics from all over the world, such as Chinese gold brocades and antique Obi fabrics from Japan, and the best weavers have created new materials for this collection. Among them, traditional Japanese kimonos and the antique Obi fabric of the belt were used extensively. The designer has abandoned the luxurious original pattern on the back of the cross-weave fabric, giving way to an abstract illustration of the sinuous, recurring trace of civilization and cultural ramifications. Several antique kimono belts were cut into 10cmx20cm pieces, then recomposed by color and texture. The piece is made up of a hundred or so pieces of fabric, and just like culture backed by a thousand years of history, diversified by regional traditions and mutated by changing times, it results in a shared creation of the splendor of the world’s civilization.
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