London: The Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum has been in this location since 1854

The Victoria and Albert Museum has a fascinating and massive collection of all kinds of stuff -- 2.27 million of them spanning 5,000 years -- dedicated to applied decorative art and design. It is a reference area for artists, designers, fashion designers and the general public to learn more about art and design from around the world.

It was founded in 1852 and originally called by the Museum's first director Henry Cole and it was known as the Museum of Manufactures. And then in 1854 it was moved to its current location and called South Kensington Museum. 

Coral tiara, brooches and earrings from the 19th century

Queen Victoria officially opened the museum in 1857 and it was renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum. What made this museum particularly accessible to the working class was that gas lamps were introduced, so that the museum could be open later for these people to be able to enjoy it too.

We arrived just after 5pm and asked a museum staff member to point us to some must-see things there. She advised that the second floor would be closing at 5.30pm and that we would probably be interested in the jewellery section there, followed by the Raphael Cartoons.

So we followed her directions and went up the stairs to the jewellery section that happens to be near the National Art Library that has over 750,000 books, photographs, drawings, paintings and prints. It also has some of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, The Codex.

Meanwhile the jewellery section really hits the eyes, all these shiny stones in a dark room make them even more glittery. The entrance has a giant spiral of so many different coloured stones that they are totally mesmerizing to look at.

Taking a peek into the National Art Library before it closed

What's interesting here is that jewellery items are not placed in chronological order but coordinated with different countries and times to show contrast or similarities.

There were many royal jewellery items, including a section on coral from 1830 to 1920 that showed how it has been prized since the 19th century. While it was mostly sourced around the seas in Naples and nearby Torre del Greco, coral used in jewellery became popular because there was also a naturalistic theme that was all the rage in the 1850s. There was even a tiara made from coral that was so interesting to see, along with brooches and earrings.

Jewellery from top artisans like Bulgari and Cartier are shown here, and a highlight is Queen Victoria's sapphire and diamond coronet designed by her husband Prince Albert. He seems to have had a flair for design, particularly jewellery and his love of Victoria also helped fuel the passion to make her look beautiful.

The coronet features stones from previous pieces and it could be worn either on the crown of her head, or opened up and placed behind her head.

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes by Raphael, about 1515

We like many others were told the jewellery section was closing so we moved down to the ground floor to the Raphael Cartoons. They are called cartoons from the Italian word "cartone", which means a large sheet of paper, or a preparatory design.

These were detailed paintings that were meant to be given to weavers to make tapestries that would be hung up on the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel in the 1690s. These cartoons were made on several sheets of paper that were pasted together and then originally drawn with charcoal, then colour mixed with led-white, animal glue and water to make a gouache was applied onto the paper.

The weavers would take these cartoons and prick the contours with a needle to make a copy, and then cut vertically into sections of weavers to work on. Afterwards the strips were reassembled again and glued to a canvas backing for display. So it's actually quite amazing these cartoons still look in good condition.

Eve Tempted by the Serpent by William Blake

Canadian-born fashion designer known as Erdem, whose full name is Erdem Moraligu explains in a short video how he loves these Raphael Cartoons and was inspired to create his first collection around them and even showed the outfits in the room.

Other interesting items in the V&A include a painting by William Blake that I spotted, a beautiful keyboard where the outer case is covered in a floral pattern, and a completely intact series of blue and white tiles from Turkey in the 1600s.

There is a Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation wing that is dedicated to Buddhist items. It was opened in 2009 and marks the chronological and geographical development of Buddhist art. 

By this time it was getting late, but more people were coming into the museum because there was a DJ in the foyer playing dance music and some people actually dancing to the grooves. Apparently every Friday night it's like this and it made us wonder if the fragile art works weren't affected by the strong vibrations from the music...

Panel of 80 Tiles from Turkey, 1600-1700

But an interesting way to draw a younger audience in, even though we saw lots of students sketching items in the museum or looking up things in the library.

Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London
+44 (0) 20 7942 2000
vam.ac.uk

Lovely Liberty

The entrance to Liberty just behind Regent Street

When in London there are certain iconic places you need to shop.

There's Harrod's, Fortnum and Mason... and Liberty.

Traditional William Morris designs used on a bag collection

Liberty was started in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty, who had a vision of creating a home for cutting-edge artistry and self-expression. It's basically a department store with fashion luxury labels, but also has very unique products that can only be found at Liberty.

Also what makes the shop interesting is its building near Regent Street, housed in Tudor revival building since the 1920s using timber from two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan.

With a 2,000 pound loan from his future father-in-law, Liberty started with a tiny shop on Regent Street and three staff, selling ornaments, fabric and objets d'art from Japan.

Within 18 months he had repaid the loan and expanded the shop, which grew bigger.

The shop has done many collaborations over the decades and centuries, most notably William Morris, the British textile designer who revived traditional British textile art.

Bolts of fabric are available on the third floor

There are some handbags and wallets inspired by Morris' designs, but with edgy colour combinations; we found them very interesting, though also very expensive at over 300 pounds for a tote bag!

Upstairs on the third floor there are shirts, some of which use William Morris designs, others more contemporary. I tried several of them on, various designs and cutting, and in the end settled for a contemporary coloured shirt to brighten up my wardrobe.

The Tudor-style building since the 1920s

The same floor has a haberdashery, where there are bolts of cloth people can buy fabric to make their own clothes or crafts, and there are even clothing patterns to inspire people. However the fabric alone would have been expensive! Even a pre-packaged bunch of different remnants cost 40 pounds!

But what a fantastic store to wander around in, full of history and yet also very fashion forward and edgy.

Major Fashion Faux Pas

Singer and actress Yang Mi cancelled her endorsement contract with Versace

Fashion brands in Europe and the United States, who depend a lot on the mainland market for sales really don't know their customers, in particular the geographical area where they come from.

Versace, Givenchy, and Coach somehow all had the same brilliant idea of printing T-shirts with cities on the back, much like tour concert T-shirts. How did they all come up with the same idea that turned out to be a really bad one?

Coach and Versace T-shirts listing Hong Kong and Taiwan

In the case of the Versace T-shirt, they probably thought sales would go through the roof because they listed so many different cities like "Milan, Italy", "Beverly Hills, USA", and "Shanghai, China".

But when it comes to the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, they printed "Hong Kong, Hong Kong", and "Macau, Macao" as if they were countries.  In the case of Givenchy, Taipei was listed as "Taipei, Taiwan".

While Taiwan is separate from China (considered a democratic state, but a renegade province to China), how about not wading into the sovereignty issue at all and just print the names of the cities?

The result left 1.4 billion Chinese upset for sure and their Chinese brand ambassadors quickly quit these brands.

Model Liu Wen severed her ties with Coach

Donatella Versace, the brand's artistic director, apologized on Sunday for the "unfortunate error".

"Never have I wanted to disrespect China's national sovereignty, and this is why I wanted to personally apologize for such inaccuracy and for any distress that it might have caused," she said in a statement.

Wanting to distance herself from the fiasco, Chinese actress and singer Yang Mi terminated her contract with the Italian fashion brand.

In the case of Coach, Model Liu Wen was the New York fashion label's brand ambassador, and on Monday cancelled her endorsement deal.

"I apologize to everyone for the damage I have caused as a result of my less-careful choice of brand!" she exclaimed in a Weibo post that was 'liked' hundreds of thousands of times. "I love my motherland, and steadfastly safeguard China's sovereignty."

Boy band singer Jackson Yee quit his contract with Givenchy

Liu took the proactive step of apologizing before the government could step in and embark on a hate propaganda campaign on her.

Meanwhile, Chinese boy band idol Jackson Yee also stated on Weibo that he had severed ties with LVMH's Givenchy, after pictures of one of the brand's T-shirts listed Hong Kong and Taiwan as countries.

Why is this still happening after the gaffes made by Dolce & Gabbana, when they made commercial of a Chinese model look silly trying to eat a pizza with chopsticks?

These brands have hardly any understanding of their Asian market and the subtleties between the different countries and territories. It just proves they are making whatever they think the Chinese market wants without much thought of the implications of their design choices.

This model had to eat pizza with chopsticks for an ad

And they are putting Chinese models, singers, and actors/actresses in a difficult position, as most of the time they don't know what they are going to model until they arrive at the studio.

If international fashion brands want to continue catering to the Chinese market, they must have a crash course on contemporary Chinese history. Infuriating their biggest customer base is just not worth the risk.

Takashi Murakami Versus Himself

Murakami's caricature of himself vomiting with happy flowers behind him

Last week my colleagues and I had a chance to see the latest Takashi Murakami show being held at Tai Kwun Contemporary that runs until September 1 minus the hordes of crowds. I saw his show last year at the Vancouver Art Gallery called The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg, and none of the pieces in there were in this exhibition in Hong Kong.

Entitled Murakami vs Murakami, this show gives another side of the artist that are on a more personal level, as well as site-specific pieces, sculptures, animation, costumes and even carpet! Visitors had to wear shoe covers in order to tour the exhibition as there are two rooms covered with Murakami carpet!

The curious The Birth of a Universe sculpture in gold

We were advised to go to the third floor then walk down and the first room had carpet covered in colourful skulls. In the middle of the large room is a giant gold leaf sculpture called The Birth Cry of a Universe after Murakami worked on it for 10 years.

It's several layers of creatures with nasty spiky teeth, collapsing on top of each other. Why one would make it in gold... is it meant to be ironic? Bling bling? Grotesque yet grand? We don't quite know what to make of it.

The next room is filled with mannequins all looking uniform in orange jumpsuits, and there are pieces from Murakami's own personal art collection. There are photographs of Larry Gagosian, prints of illustrations by Andy Warhol, some strange pieces of sushi that have images of women on them...

After walking down the spiral staircase we were immediately taken by the several costumes the Japanese artist designed -- with him as the mannequin in white complete with glasses, white beard and white hair. He is making fun of himself wearing them in various poses and they're hilarious.

Murakami being eaten by Mr DOB

He's dressed in a giant ball covered in his famous smiling flowers and he's even wearing a sunflower headdress complete with green leggings and even sneakers covered in his signature sunflowers. In another one he has a hot pink octopus on his head and a colourful suit with octopus arms on the blazer. Maybe Murakami should design his own line of clothing...

Even better he is being eaten by one his own creatures Mr DOB, actually Murakami's alter ego, or wearing what looks like a massive kimono but really it's a humungous polo shirt of his happy flowers, funky pants and giant slippers. His creativity really knows no bounds.

Another room features the superflat flowers. Murakami's theory of superflat refers to not only the perspectival flatness on the picture plane in Japanese art, but also the rejection of hierarchical divisions between high and low art, and of society itself.

This room is also covered in carpet featuring every possible shade of his flowers from red, green, blue and yellow that are all coded with numbers... it's really nerdy! There are giant sunflower cushions to sit on and watch a Murakami animation that is so absurd I burst out laughing when a creature that was terrorizing a city spewed out a giant piece of turd... thank goodness we couldn't smell it!

Cute (but expensive) flower cushions on the flower carpet

I also love the way Murakami is very willing to make fun of himself and the way he looks. There's a caricature of him vomiting some colourful stuff from his mouth, his eyes looking glazed. The walls were covered in the flower wallpaper and one of my colleagues thinks superfan Murakami collectors probably have the same wallpaper on their walls... how crazy is that?

The final room is a serene departure from the previous one, though it's completely covered in gold. In a way it harks back to Warhol's Silver Factory, but up several notches with the wow factor. There's a giant gold sculpture called Flower Parent and Child, a caricature of Murakami raising his right hand in salute with his dog Pom, the first creature with whom he could really express his love -- even though he is married...

Murakami vs Murakami is such a curious exhibition that reveals so many facets of the artist and his evolution of work. His mind must be going non-stop with so many ideas that he has to have a giant team of people to execute them all -- brilliantly too.

A gold sculpture of Murakami and dog Pom

He and Jeff Koons are the two artists who don't physically have a hand in every single piece of work they produce, and yet they claim them as their own. However it's no different from artists from other periods in history who relied on apprentices to help them too.

Nevertheless the size, scale and various mediums Murakami produces is staggering and doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Murakami vs Murakami
June 1-September 1, 2019
Tai Kwun Contemporary
10 Hollywood Road
Central
www.taikwun.hk
Tai Kwun Contemporary

Women Surpass Men in Buying Suits

This show resonates with Chinese women who encounter gender bias daily

Women in China are snapping up more suits than men these days, thanks to a popular streaming TV series called All Is Well (都挺好 dou1 ting3 hao3).

It's about a typical traditional Chinese middle-class family that values sons over daughters. The protagonist, Su Mingyu 苏明玉 (played by Yao Chen) stands up to the gender bias in her own family by dressing in suits in every episode to show off her fierce independence.



The character Su Mingyu has struck a chord with Chinese women, who are following her sartorial sense on social media, sparking a national shopping trend for fashionable suits.

Since the show started in March, she has worn things like a Burberry suit, Max Mara coat, Erdos cashmere sweater and Stuart Weitzman boots. Su Mingyu definitely has expensive taste, but seems like she can afford it.

Su Mingyu wears stylish clothes that reflect success

She projects the ideal look of success that most Chinese women aspire to -- luxury suit-wearing, financially independent, and mentally strong despite going through gender discrimination all her life.

This coincides with the 2019 China Fashion Data Report issued by Alibaba, where the word "suits" was the most searched keyword on Taobao last year for women; the sales volume of women's suits surpassed that of men for the first time on January 27, 2019.

The search for "大哥廓西" literally meaning "big bro, shoulder-padded suit" in Chinese, grew 317 percent year-on-year, with sales up 39 percent.

And with All Is Well inspiring women to consider dressing in suits, perhaps the power suit will translate to even more sales than men's suits this year.

Women are keen to emulate Su Mingyu's fashion sense

Perhaps this is a sartorial way for women to achieve gender equality in China?

Picture of the Day: How is This Art?

Sofia Coppola's Birkin handbag becomes an art piece thanks to Jeff Koons

Apologies -- I have one more thing to mention about Art Basel Hong Kong that happened last week.

One of the galleries presented this "piece" by American artist Jeff Koons.

Called Birkin Bag Black (Shelf) 2014, it features the famed Hermes handbag, mirror and acrylic shelf.

Koons didn't even have to buy the highly-coveted bag that takes months to order because they are all handmade in workshops in France. Director Sofia Coppola donated it to him to create for auction in 2014.

Coppola had asked her father to buy her a Birkin when she was "way too young to have one". When Francis Ford Coppola got to the Hermes store with a wad of cash, he was apparently mistaken about the cost of the item. "They said, 'Oh, no... it's one more zero.'"

And then it was in Sofia Coppola's closet for a long time. "It's very decadent so I'm happy it's now an art piece," she said at the time. Her bag was auctioned off for an undisclosed amount.

In the end US$5.5 million was raised for the United Nations Foundation through a charity called Project Perpetual.

And lo and behold, we got to see this "artwork" in Hong Kong.

But really... is this art?

Memories of Kaiser Karl

Karl Lagerfeld at one of his Chanel shows recreating a French bistro

Towards the end of dinner this evening, my friend looked at her phone and saw a news alert that designer Karl Lagerfeld had died at the age of 85.

It was a shock to hear the news -- I remember watching him on Fashion Television in the late 80s and early 90s talking a mile a minute about how he made fashion relevant or how women wanted strong-looking clothes in the office or how they wanted to be feminine looking or how women wanted clothes to make them feel comfortable.

Back in the early 1990s with supermodels wearing Chanel

These sound bites rattled off his tongue and fashion correspondents lapped it up because he was considered the genius to reinvented Chanel from 1983 into the power fashion house it is today, while keeping Fendi still relevant despite the trend of moving away from wearing fur.

When I first started watching him on TV he already had greying hair -- and yet he kept working 30 years later, averaging a staggering 14 collections a year. How do you come up with so many ideas for so many collections?

That didn't seem to be a problem for him when it came to Chanel, as he continually riffed off the boucle fabric, the interlinking "Cs" and the multiple strands of pearls. He made the iconic boxy jackets into biker ones, or harked back to Coco Chanel's days or paired them with tulle skirts or leather minis.

I was just in awe of the myriad of combinations he would think of and yet each piece would have some kind of Chanel DNA in them.

Lagerfeld recreated a beach for his spring/summer collection

In the last several years he came up with more grandiose ideas of how to present his collections. One time he recreated a bistro in Paris, a supermarket even with Chanel-branded food products on the shelves, or what about trucking in tons of sand to recreate a beach...

Meanwhile Fendi is a brand I am not so familiar with, but he has had a long association with it since 1965! He would experiment with fur, shaving it, dyeing them, creating new textures and colours with them. Customers lapped it up, along with the baguette bag, which has made a comeback in different sizes.

Fashion never really changes, but just enough that you're lusting for the latest one...

He even made a Chanel-themed supermarket for a catwalk

Lagerfeld introduced me to the world of fashion -- it seemed glamorous and beautiful to a young person -- and how the clothes, particularly haute couture were made. He gave me a new appreciation for this art form and that it was important to keep couture alive.

While the German had a quirky personality, he anchored fashion for decades and has left behind a giant hole of creativity. Lagerfeld will be missed.

Freckles Challenge Chinese Beauty

Model Li Jingwen with a natural freckled face showing off Zara's makeup

The Chinese can be a sensitive lot, especially when it comes to their perception of beauty.

The latest fashion label to be on the hot seat following Dolce and Gabbana is Spanish fast-fashion brand Zara. It released a post on its Weibo account, showing model Li Jingwen wearing a new lipstick and lip glaze, though her freckles were very visible which sparked immediate controversy.

Some Chinese netizens took it to mean Zara was being racist towards Chinese people, saying the brand was "uglifying China" as they don't see freckles as a sign of beauty.

"Does it mean that us Asian women all have dull eyes and have faces full covered by freckles?" asked one netizen.

"Sorry that we Asian women don't have freckles -- or only a small proportion of us have," said another. "You spent such an effort finding a model with freckles, just like searching for a needle in the sea. How hard you've been working on this!"

A third netizen remarked, "Selling products in China had better respect Chinese people's aesthetic taste. I don't understand why Zara showed this face with a lot of freckles?"

Zara clarified the photos didn't make Li look ugly

Others felt the photos were realistic and one news platform called The Paper said: "It's common for international fashion brands to use freckled models, and some freckles are even welcomed by the public from foreign countries."

The fact that this needs to be spelled out in this day and age is a sad commentary on some Chinese people's tunnel vision definition of beauty.

Nevertheless, some appraised the photos as authentic and felt the public should be more open to different aesthetics and tolerant of imperfect facial features instead of just accepting edited pictures.

Zara had to clarify that the new makeup line was not solely targeting the Chinese market, and that the appointment of Li the model was determined by the headquarters in Spain, showing her in a natural state without any final touch-ups.

"Spanish people have different beauty standards and they did not intend to make this model look ugly," a Zara spokeswoman said. "They usually don't modify the photos of models. That's what the model looks like."

Does this mean the Chinese are going to hate on Li for her freckles? Or will they begin boycotting Zara?

Maybe they have to learn to accept that beauty is not one with a completely made-up face that looks impossibly perfect -- natural beauty is real beauty, and that includes freckles.

Dolce & Gabbana Ruin a Model's Career

Model Zuo Ye attempting to eat pizza with chopsticks in a D&G commercial

Back in November, Dolce & Gabbana released a strange commercial where a Chinese model wearing a red dress from the Italian fashion house, is seen struggling to eat pizza, cannoli and spaghetti with a pair of chopsticks.

The Italian fashion design duo were accused of racism and cultural insensitivity for the commercials, which were timed just before they were about to put on their fashion show in Shanghai. It also didn't help that co-founder Stefano Gabbana got into a row on a private Instagram message when he apparently described China as a "country of s***". The screen capped conversation was published it online, compounding the already bad situation.

Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce giving an apology

As a result the fashion show was cancelled at the last minute when Chinese models and stars pulled out, and the two designers were shown in a video giving a sober apology for the PR crisis they had created.

Meanwhile the poor model involved in the commercial was attacked online by fellow Chinese, who accused her of "making money by insulting your own country" and "vilifying the image of the Chinese".

Two months after the incident, Zuo Ye finally spoke out, explaining she had not given enough thought to the content of the video and felt "very guilty and ashamed" about it.

"Personally I would never show any disrespect to my motherland. I love my country and feel proud to be able to represent China on the catwalk," wrote Zuo on her Weibo account. "I will draw a lesson from this and show the Chinese in a better light. Again, I apologize to my fellow countryman."

Zuo says she didn't have much say over the content of the ad

But how is this her fault? The recent graduate of South China Agricultural University wouldn't have known ahead of time what she was expected to do in the commercial and how it would impact her career, that she says is now almost completely ruined.

Zuo is a young model hoping to break out with this commercial, but she was unwittingly swept up in the racist ad. She said she was only told she was going to shoot a "fun video" involving Italian cuisine and the email briefing didn't give much more information.

During the three-hour shoot in a Chinese restaurant in Milan, everyone on set spoke Italian except the director, who instructed Zuo in English to show surprise, bewilderment and appreciation of the food, even though she felt awkward.

She said she questioned the use of chopsticks in the video, but was just told to follow instructions.

"I couldn't do it in the first try [picking up the cannoli with the chopsticks] and I asked, 'Are you kidding me? With chopsticks?' The director said, 'Yes! I know it's hard. Just try to do that'."

After two months' silence, Zuo apologized

"I felt awkward when using chopsticks for food that was larger than the normal size. I seldom laugh in my daily life but the shooting required a lot of extravagant acting and I felt very uncomfortable too," Zuo wrote.

She said as an ordinary model she was not allowed to give feedback on the commercial's content nor was she able to watch the final product.

However, many people online still weren't happy with her apology. "I still think your explanation was useless and your video disgusting. You can only blame yourself for having no distinguishing capability. No point whitewashing your wrongdoing," one internet user wrote.

Other sympathized with her, saying, "Blame a model? Why not blame the chopsticks while we're at it."

Zuo obviously wants to put this terrible incident behind her so she can move on in her career, but being dogged by those who cannot empathize with her situation doesn't help at all. At least she was brave enough to explain her side of the story, though it will take time for the fiasco to go away.

Documentary on Alexander McQueen

Lee Alexander McQueen was very close to his mother Joyce

On the plane back to Hong Kong I saw a documentary on the late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Called McQueen, the documentary gathers shaky video footage the designer took himself, along with interviews with his family, friends, and assistants. It gives a fuller picture of the man who shook up the fashion world with his designs and explains how he evolved from a young man who loved drawing all the time in school, to apprenticing with top tailors in Savile Row.



There he learned the craft of making suits and his former bosses were impressed he would come into work with no attitude, and do his work very well. He later worked for other designers and learned how to come up with a theme, do research, and create a collection.

He went back to school this time, straight into the MA fashion course for Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He didn't have the money to pay for tuition, but his aunt did.

McQueen had creative fashion ideas in his head

His graduation collection was bought by fashion stylist Isabella Blow who became his patron and mentor, buying his creations and also introducing him to fashion circles. The documentary has footage of them at her home that had a huge estate, him playing with his dogs there and she in high heels and a military-style jacket.

Then starting out, his fashion shows were criticized for being misogynist with themes like Highland Rape and Jack the Ripper. One of his friends recounts how they got into the Givenchy show and dismissed it as "irrelevant" and then ironically he was later named creative director there.

McQueen takes a video of them pulling up to Givenchy in a chauffered car and how there were language barriers with him not speaking French, the staff working at the atelier not much English. They were terrified whenever he got his scissors out because he would just chop things up, but after they saw what he had done to resolve the problem, they understood what he was doing.

He also had lunch with the staff, which was unheard of before, and they were thrilled he respected them. McQueen later did a stint at Gucci.

McQueen was mentored by Isabella Blow

His assistant observes that when McQueen began making so much money, he got into drugs, which changed his personality. He also became more vain, doing liposuction, caving into the shallow physical expectations of the fashion industry.

But his depression hit hard, when Blow committed suicide in 2007 at 48. Some say it was because she and McQueen drifted apart, with him not appreciating her, though he denied this. There is footage of him going to the funeral in a black jacket and red tartan looking distressed.

However creatively he got better and better, exploring themes of death and beauty. Models and his friends say McQueen was always true to himself and didn't care what others thought of what he was doing.

McQueen was very close to his mother, the youngest of six children. She gives a few interviews about him, saying how he was very talented and he was a good boy. But when she died in February 2010, McQueen was devastated.

He spoke to his older sister on the phone about their mother's funeral, but then the day of the funeral she found out McQueen had killed himself by hanging. A former assistant ominously recounts how McQueen had talked about suicide, and how he would probably leave his flat in a body bag. His sister believes he could not deal with his mother not being around anymore.

A model's dress is being painted by two robots

That's when the documentary ends, giving a post script about how his posthumous show "Savage Beauty" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was the most popular ever in the New York museum. That's when I came into contact with his work and was in awe of his creativity. Everything was possible and he was not afraid to try.

The interviews with the friends and family show how much he impacted them, from berating an assistant for leaving him and then coming back, to his nephew so proud of McQueen and what he did, to his sister describing a skirt he made for her that fit like a glove but was almost impossible to walk in.

Guo Pei's Fantastical Fashion

Nothing short of wow... Guo Pei's weight-bearing long coat with embroidery

After two days of sun it was back to rainy weather in Vancouver. But that's OK because we had planned to go downtown to the Vancouver Art Gallery to check out the current exhibition, Guo Pei: Couture Beyond that is on until January 20.

Layers of organza give volume to this whimsical dress

When it opened in mid-October, it coincided with the Vancouver premiere of the documentary Yellow is Forbidden, which follows Guo preparing for her haute couture show in Paris, and how she became a fashion designer.

She was born at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution and learned how to sew at a very young age from her mother, but Guo didn't know there was such a thing as fashion, with everyone wearing the same dull Mao suits.

"When I was little, I didn't know what fashion was. The word didn't exist," says Guo in Yellow is Forbidden. "My Granny told me many stories about embroidery, what people wore in the palace, and I would fantasize about that. When I was eight years old, I asked Granny for a yellow dress, and she got very angry at me. She said, 'Yellow is forbidden'."

Guo later studied at Beijing's Second Light Industry School, graduating in 1986 and worked for a Chinese clothing manufacturer before launching her brand Rose Studio with her husband in 1997.

The "omelette" dress made famous by Rihanna in 2015

The exhibition features pieces from 2006 to 2017 and yes it includes that 25kg yellow dress with fox fur trim Rihanna wore to the 2015 China-themed Met Gala that put Guo in the global spotlight.

Looking at the pieces you can see Guo's fantastical imagination and you can't help but be in awe of both the design and the execution particularly in terms of the embroidery and beading. It is absolutely amazing how much work was poured into each outfit.

She has teams of some 500 artisans working with her in Beijing, training and learning from her. Apparently in the documentary, couture organizers weren't sure who Guo was because many fashion designers are usually the ones barking directions.

A dress as ornate as a Faberge egg

It's interesting to see her interpretation of religious iconography like the cross and royal symbols, as she has no strong connection or association with them. She freely uses bejewelled crosses to embellish crowns or even a headdress that looks like a human-sized Faberge egg with the model's head peeping through. Inside it's far from plain -- there are layers and layers of beading that are incredible.

One section was on Guo's reinterpretation of wedding dresses. Traditionally in China they are red, while in the West they are white, and so why not a completely white beaded Chinese wedding dress complete with buttons with 喜喜 or double happiness characters.

Another had a western scalloped neck with traditional Chinese floral embroidery that was gorgeous, complemented with sleeves decorated with long strings of gold beads, like a flapper dress.

That yellow dress was magnificent and yes it did look like a fancy omelette, but we preferred the turquoise embroidered coat and dress, the coat with massive long sleeves and a fur trim that needed assistants to help carry it. Now that's an entrance.

Why not a white beaded wedding gown?

The embroidery for each piece was different, colourful and dynamic -- the designs were hardly staid or routine. Many were long dresses, but there were some with pants, others using a kind of ribbon-like fabric to sculpt the skirt, or creating new shapes altogether.

It wasn't just the outfits themselves that were jaw-dropping. Guo also accessorized each piece with dazzling headdresses such as crowns or chunky jewellery around the neck or fingers, and even platform shoes that echoed those worn by women in the Imperial Palace.

The exhibition also has a video of Guo's fashion shows and you wonder how these models managed to walk the catwalk without falling over! In the documentary trailer, at one point someone says the models have to be athletes to be able to wear her clothes because they are so weighed down by the embroidery and beading.

Some of the pieces at first glance look very western, but look closer and there are some fine Chinese flourishes. Many of them look very regal, elegant and sophisticated, others are interesting experiments in shapes, textures and colours.

Curvaceous shapes created from this sculptural fabric

Being able to examine these pieces up close is very rare for haute couture, so it's a fun opportunity to see these ones in particular. They immediately make you appreciate the tens of thousands of hours put into each piece with so many people working on each one in tandem, with Guo as the visionary and conductor.

We left the show feeling in awe and proud of what Guo has accomplished -- the first Chinese to be invited to become a guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, and creating pieces she has always wanted to do.

Guo Pei: Beyond Couture
Until January 20, 2019
Vancouver Art Gallery

Dolce & Gabbana Strike Out

Chinese model in D&G dress struggles to eat pizza and pasta with chopsticks

The Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana was supposed to hold its star-studded fashion show tonight in Shanghai, but it was cancelled following racist remarks by one of its co-founders, Stefano Gabbana.

He apparently had an online conversation with an Instagram user named "diet prada", where Gabbana described China as "a country of s***."

Stefano Gabbana's thoughts on China...

The texted conversation on Gabbana's Instagram account was in response to complaints about the fashion label's latest campaign "DG Loves China", where a Chinese model in a red D&G dress is seen struggling with chopsticks, trying to eat Italian foods like pizza, spaghetti and a cannoli, or cylindrical pastry filled with cream.

In the cannoli video, a male voice can be heard asking the model, "Is it too big for you?"

Others complain about how cliched the ad looked, with Chinese lanterns and couplets that were deemed "outdated and stereotypical".

As for Gabbana's outburst on social media, he claimed his account was hacked, and his legal office is working on the security breach.

Meanwhile reaction was swift in China -- when word got round about the spat, a number of celebrities who were invited to the show, including movie star Chen Kun and actress Dilireba, who was named D&G's brand ambassador in February said she would not attend, while fellow actress Zhang Ziyi said the brand was "inviting humiliation".

Indeed.

Domenico Dolce (left) and Stefano Gabbana (right)

Even a number of models who were booked for the show refused to turn up before the event was cancelled. Modeling agency Dongfang Binli said all of its 24 models had pulled out of the show and put a "Not Me" tag on their online profile photos in protest.

Supermodel Jin Dachuan said he would not take part in any show or any event staged by the brand in the future.

The brand has incensed Hongkongers in the past. In January 2012, at a Dolce & Gabbana's store in Harbour City on Canton Road, a security guard reportedly told locals that only mainlanders and foreigners were allowed to take pictures in the store. He apparently threatened to smash a local resident's camera if they continued to take photographs.

Remember these protests at Harbour City in 2012?

A series of protests at the store ensured until Dolce & Gabbana eventually apologized days later, though it wasn't enough to assuage people's anger.

The Italian design duo seems to love to court controversy, and some believe the latest ad campaign and subsequent online spat were deliberately done to stir up reaction -- but at the risk of being shunned?

It's a huge gamble, and perhaps this time the Chinese will protest the brand with their wallets and shop elsewhere.

Surely this is not a risk worth taking?

Having just visited Italy, it's obvious the government is taking tourism very seriously by having security personnel at major landmarks, while fashion brands are very keen on serving Chinese customers.

But it seems that Dolce & Gabbana really don't care about the consequences of fanning the flames of Chinese nationalist anger. 

Maybe the massive drop in sales will persuade them to keep their mouths shut?

Picture of the Day: Red Wallet

How superstitious are you when it comes to your wallet's colour?

During my time window shopping at the Galaxy Macau, there wasn't much to do except wander into the luxury brand shops.

One of my last stops was at Louis Vuitton, a shop I never venture into in Hong Kong because it's so intimidating and the shop assistants are usually snooty.

I asked to see some wallets and they were duly taken out of the cases and carefully explained. Then the salesgirl asked if I was superstitious and I asked why...???

She pointed to the wallet in red and explained Chinese superstition is that one should not have a red wallet because red represents fire and it will burn away all your wealth, or another explanation that red is also the colour of bankruptcy!

So what was that red wallet doing in Louis Vuitton in Macau of all places?

Review: Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards

Manolo Blahnik is a man all women love for his gorgeous shoes

On the flight to Singapore, our in-flight entertainment on Cathay Pacific wasn't working and so it wasn't until more than half way through the flight that it was re-booted and we could finally watch something.

With only an hour and a half to go, I picked a quick documentary to watch -- one on the maestro of shoes, Manolo Blahnik.

The man is 75 years old now and still going strong. He was born in the Canary Islands in Spain to an Austrian-Hungarian father and Spanish mother who were well-to-do. His mother instilled a sense of style in the young boy, and he became very creative, ditching his parents' plans for him to become a diplomat and instead going to Paris and London.

During his childhood he did make shoes for lizards

His childhood memories of his home was wandering the gardens and used foil that wrapped chocolate bars and made them into shoes for lizards. Hence the title of the documentary.

Blahnik learned shoe making from his mother, who made her own shoes, and she learned through a cobbler in the Canary Islands. In the end Blahnik didn't have formal training in making shoes, but he is very involved in the entire process from beginning to end.

He also draws every shoe that he produces, and uses watercolours to paint them. He has a wonderful imagination, inspired by all kinds of things from flowers -- wisteria are his favourite -- to the sea, to colours. 

In 1970 he had an opportunity to meet Diana Vreeland, the arbiter of taste who was then the editor-in-chief of US Vogue. He was so nervous meeting her that he could barely say anything. After she looked at his drawings she declared: "Young man, make things, make accessories, make shoes."

She suggested he focus on shoes and he followed her advice.

He got his big break in 1972 to create shoes for a runway show. However, when he made the heels with rubber soles, he forgot to put steel in them to support the heel; it was really painful for the models to walk in them, that they seemed to create a new way of walking the runway. Luckily for Blahnik, the mistake turned into a blessing.

He starts off by sketching each shoe, painting by hand

Success swept up with him in the 1980s and of course the 1990s with Sex in the City -- he was overwhelmed that women were willing to drop US$500 for a pair thanks to a fictional character who was obsessed with his heels. 

And of course the film has numerous testimonials from US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour to singer Rihanna and models Karlie Kloss and Naomi Campbell fawning over Blahnik's shoes. 

But what would have been more interesting would be to follow him from sketch to shoe, as he personally oversees every part of the shoe production. It is only towards the end of the film that the camera follows Blahnik in Italy when he visits a shoe factory. 

He puts on a white coat -- complete with a handkerchief in the pocket -- and he gets to work fashioning the heel out of wood. He is the one literally carving it and smoothing it out with the machine while a craftsman looks on. From there we watch how the shoe is fashioned, the satin sewn on, jewels set, or lace laid on top. 

His designs, colours and decorations are elegant and stylish

There is also a question about his personal life -- to which no friends can answer, and he himself would rather be busy creating more shoes. Trying to pry into someone's personal life is redundant here -- we just want to know more about how he translates ideas onto shoes.

Nevertheless it was interesting to hear about his early days, hanging out with model Bianca Jagger and actor Rupert Everett, how he was a model at one point, and how he let Wintour's toddler son create a mess in his shoe shop.

He also pays tribute to three muses -- Anna Piaggi, the eccentric editor of Vogue Italy, Isabella Blow, fashion muse, and model Tina Chow. All three women have died in the last few years, Blahnik must be missing them terribly.

In any event he continues to work, traveling to his different homes and taking in as much of nature as he can. He seems to work solitary, but is very social when he needs to be. His impeccable taste in clothes makes him practically the only man who can pull off a lilac suit.

He says he is very lucky to be able to find something he loves to do and is enjoying every moment. We're glad he is too.

Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards (2017)

Directed by Michael Roberts

79 minutes