Chinese Wedding Dress

Year of the Couturière

01.12.10

With the Chinese buying cars by the tens of thousands every week — big cars, too — and throwing up new buildings, driving in Beijing is no lark. It was an hour before Guo Pei and her husband, Cao Bao Jie, reached the headquarters of Rose Studio, their fashion company, on the city’s north side. The October sun was blazing pale when their Mercedes pulled up to a low-rise office complex, its white brick rendered shabby by newer developments. Cao, a stocky, good-looking Taiwanese man who goes by the name Jack, had been kneeling the whole time next to the driver; facing his wife, who sat in the back; and translating from Chinese into English. Now he sort of backed out of the car. Guo Pei, whose career as a fashion designer began when there was no fashion in her country, remained a study in Asian poise and etiquette. In addition to large eyes and delicate features, enhanced by careful makeup, she has a gentleness unmarred by circumstance. These circumstances include wealth and a list of clients in Beijing’s highest political, media and social circles. But as Jack said proudly, ‘‘Guo Pei is a very traditional lady — a wonderful wife and daughter and mother who always cares more about her family than the attention she receives.’’

Source: New York Times (blog)