Beijing-born designer Guo Pei’s elaborate haute couture has gracefully ascended global fashion like a phoenix. The first China-based designer to figure prominently on the world stage dresses local dignitaries and American pop stars alike in decadent gowns.

This first monograph accompanies an exhibition of dozens of Pei’s dresses, offering a more complete picture than the gowns showcased at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s popular China: Through the Looking Glass. Detailed photography reveals the unprecedented detail achieved through the thousands of hours committed to each garment’s workmanship, a signature of Guo Pei’s atelier. The book presents a tableau of Pei’s resplendent work: expansive, unconventional, and otherworldly.