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Singer Rihanna's canary yellow cape dress, trimmed with fur
the color of egg yolk and embroidered with flowers, swept behind
her in a seemingly endless train as she arrived for the ball at
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the biggest nights
in the fashion year.
Social media lit up with chat about the dress, and the fashion
magazine Vogue promptly put it on the front cover of its Met
Gala Special Edition, catapulting its Chinese creator Guo Pei
into the international spotlight.
Guo, a brand designer turned haute couture stylist already well
known in China, says the empress-style gown, one of her most
ambitious creations, took some two years to make from its
conception in 2008.
"Just designing, choosing the cloth, confirming the color and
getting the material woven in Italy took almost half a year,
more or less," Guo said at her studio in north Beijing.
The designer, who admitted she did not know much about Rihanna
when she received the call from the Grammy Award winner, said
the 25-kg (55-pound) outfit was designed to be difficult to wear
to reflect the responsibilities and challenges of an empress.
"I was really not convinced that she would be able to wear it
because ... it's very heavy," Guo said. "But she later told me
'This piece of clothing is so beautiful' (and) that ... she
gained the courage (to wear it). I really admired that."
The gown is now back with the designer, who hopes to display it
in a museum one day.
Guo says she is now getting used to being in the spotlight. "I
have no requirement to gain a certain level of fame," she said.
"I just want to do really beautiful designs that everyone
likes."
(Reporting By Reuters Television; Writing by Marie-Louise
Gumuchian in London; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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