‘China: Through The Looking Glass’: NYC Met Museum Showcases Centuries Of Chinese Fashion, Film And Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute is set to dazzle New York City on May 7 with its spring 2015 exhibition, “China: Through the Looking Glass,” which will combine high fashion with Chinese costumes, paintings, porcelain art and films such as “Raise the Red Lantern” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” to examine how China has fueled the world’s imagination for centuries.

The partnership promises to “undoubtedly reveal provocative new insights into the West’s fascination with China,” Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Met, said in a press release. “The artistic direction of acclaimed filmmaker Wong Kar Wai [“In the Mood for Love”] will take visitors on a cinematic journey through our galleries,” he said, “where high fashion will be shown alongside masterworks of Chinese art.”

Imperial China, the Republic of China (particularly Shanghai in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s) and the People’s Republic of China, which will depict varying representations of Chairman Mao, will be featured in the Anna Wintour Costume Center’s Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery in a series of what organizers are calling “mirrored reflections."

The Met’s Astor Court will show costumes worn by Chinese opera legend Mei Lanfang, who, as Women’s Wear Daily noted in an article about the show’s preview on Monday, was the inspiration for John Galliano’s spring 2003 Christian Dior couture collection. Other designers will include Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton, Dries Van Noten, Jason Wu, Christian Dior and Coco Chanel.

“China: Through the Looking Glass” begins May 7 and continues through August 16.