The "Garden of Ethereal Realms: Guo Pei Costume Art Exhibition" opened on September 27, 2026, at the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou and runs until August 31, 2027, in the museum's Fashion Gallery. The museum said the show is a personal retrospective tracing the evolution of Guo Pei's creative career, and describes her as a leading figure in Chinese contemporary haute couture who has spent four decades working between traditional craftsmanship and modern costume design.
About 200 haute couture pieces drawn from 40 years of work are organised into four sections and nine representative series: "Time, Fable, Rebirth," "Building Dreams, Legend," "Dream Isle Garden" and "Eastern Palace Echoes." According to the museum, they present her long-term exploration of garment structure, traditional techniques, material language and East-West aesthetics. A folded-paper installation is also part of the exhibition, reinterpreting the contours, layers and power of haute couture through structural language.
Works on display include One Thousand and Two Nights, Legend, Samsara, Paradise Island and Children's Dream. The exhibition also shows the golden embroidered dragon robe worn by Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala, red-carpet gowns made for Liu Shishi and Dilraba, and costumes created for national stages including the Beijing Olympics and the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
The China National Silk Museum is dedicated to silk, textiles and costume culture, and places the haute couture within the context of silk history and dress culture. It said the exhibition invites the public to rediscover the contemporary value of traditional materials and craftsmanship, and to appreciate the time, skill and creativity behind each piece.