1. FASHION20
theSun ON MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
FASHION & BEAUTY EDITOR: Peter Yap E-MAIL: peteryap@thesundaily.com
Strangerthanfiction
BY RACHEL LAW
S
LEEP disorders, identity
crisis and fossilised babies.
Believe it or not, Moto
Guo’s kooky, kaleidoscop-
ic designs and lookbooks were
fuelled by ghastly phenomena
such as these. His first collec-
tion, Out Like A Light (Autumn/
Winter 2014) has an underlying
message of his childhood battles
against obesity and sleep disor-
ders. Not only did it win Best
Collection and Best Academic
awards at his graduation, Out
Like A Light was warmly re-
ceived overseas.
“After graduating, I worked on
a test shoot-cum-editorial project
with Zhong Lin, a very talented
photographer. We sent the
photos to (influential Spanish
menswear site) FuckingYoung,
and surprisingly, they liked it
and published the whole series.
Thereafter, emails and buyers
just poured in, and more inter-
national sites picked up on our
project,” shared Guo.
Following the collection’s
success, Guo soon caught news
of gossip that was going around
accusing him of being arrogant.
As a coping mechanism, he cre-
ated A Litho Odd (Autumn/Win-
ter 2015) based on the rare case
of lithopedion, likening himself
to a foetus that chose to die in
his mother’s womb to avoid the
wrath of malice on the outside.
Meanwhile, Guo’s latest feat,
But Do Not Blame Lulu (Spring/
Summer 2016) not only docu-
ments his awkwardness around
friends who have conformed out
of peer pressure, but checks his
own identity as a designer who
has to juggle between artistic
freedom and marketability.
“Lulu is a reflection of me too.
Now that I’m in the business of
fashion, I get asked to tone down
my designs to conform to the
Malaysian market. But I have
yet to go all out! I need to build
a strong voice to compete in the
>MotoGuoknowshowtocatchyourattention,andkeepit
MORE ABOUT MOTO
Why Moto?
A nickname given by his
secondary school friends who
thought he resembled and
sounded like Moto Moto, the
male hippopotamus in
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
(2008).
Who’s Mr. Rubber?
Guo’s French bulldog makes
occasional, endearing appear-
ances on @motoguo (Insta-
gram).
How much?
Moto Guo pieces are priced
from US$120 to US$800
(RM516 to RM3,440).
Personality he wants to
dress?
Susie Bubble.
foreign market,” said Guo, who
has showcased in Tokyo, Milan
and Paris.
In protest of this struggle, he
brazenly named a mesh jacket in
the collection, “To Please You
All”.
Music to menswear
While the contrasting atmos-
phere of styling and art direction
for his photo shoots is intended,
Guo insisted that he does not
deliberately seek anomalies and
provocative theories to back or
push his work. The 24-year-old
typically kicks off the design
process by looking into his own
life.
“I take my experiences and do
research, and if it strikes a chord,
I develop the concept from there.
I don’t have a fixed method, but
I always add a bit of humour and
self-deprecation,” he grinned.
Despite existing talents within
the Guo family – his uncle is a
stage actor, his dad was once a
freelance painter, and his grand-
uncle is a professional fine artist
– the Teluk Intan native never
picked up art from his elders. He
has however, been playing music
for 10 years now, and he has mu-
sic to thank for leading him into
fashion.
“In between teaching classes,
I’d have nothing to do so I’d end
up flipping through countless
fashion magazines, which slowly
cultivated my visual and interest.
I also looked for street style snaps
online, and naturally began dress-
ing differently from the other
musicians,” Guo reminisced.
Due to the lack of social op-
portunities, and the 9-to-5 nature
of his teaching job, the double
bass major from the Malaysian
Institute of Art (MIA) eventually
quit music to pursue fashion de-
sign. Guo graduated from Raffles
College of Higher Education two
years ago.
Expanding the man’s
wardrobe
Although the idiosyncrasy of
Guo’s works may send the ready
in ready-to-wear into exile, and
the average Joes into bewilder-
ment, the designer insists that
they are not as strange as they
appear to be. Guo hopes to
introduce the idea that
men can wear many
more things, that his
pieces can be styled
in different ways,
and heck, they
can be worn by
women too.
Citing J.W.
Anderson
and Walter Van
Beirendonck as
his main influ-
encers, Guo
said, “Anderson
questions the
limitation of
menswear and
he does things
like putting
ruffles on men’s
pants, while Van
Beirendonck
comes up with
bodysuits for
men. They are
very controver-
sial, but are still
able to sell.”
While Guo’s pieces
are available on www.
cuevolution.com,
the down-to-earth
designer is working
on getting more stockists and is
planning to set up a showroom
in Europe for a more private
preview experience compared to
that of trade shows.
He is also in the
midst of material-
ising his Autumn/
Winter 2016
collection, to be
unveiled in Janu-
ary 2016.
“It will be mini-
malistic and artisti-
cally trashy,”
he
hinted.
Guo’s
latest feat,
But Do
Not Blame
Lulu for
spring/
summer
2016.
ZULFADHLI ZAKI/
THESUN
Moto Guo
hopes to
complete
his brand
with his own
accessory
and shoe
designs in
the future.
A Litho Odd
collection
for this
year’s
autumn/
winter.