Cantopop and Mandopop star outfits take center stage as part of the Chinese Canadian Museum’s exhibition Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s - 2000. While there are several other pieces in this exhibition: a series of painted celebrity portraits by Vancouver-based artist Ho Tam, a series of photographs by Vancouver-based photographer Raymond Chan, and even a dreamy karaoke room, the centerpiece of Dream Factory is the large display of clothing pieces worn in pop performances.
This exhibition speaks to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Reduced Inequalities, as the exhibition celebrates Chinese pop music, acknowledging that it is as impactful, or more impactful in many cases, than Western pop music.
Each of these outfits on display is an iconic performance look from a different cantopop or mandopop star. The red velvet jacket on display in the image above, for example, was a piece commissioned by Jean Paul Gaultier for pop sensation Leslie Cheung's 2000 Passion Tour. This long garment is intended to capture how Cheung plays with the gender binary, creating an androgynous look in its balance between the long flowing skirt and structured jacket. It was reimagined for Dream Factory by Charlotte Chang.
