MET Museum hosts the exhibition “China. Through the looking glass.”

Dresses and porcelains gather the rooms of MET Museum in the exhibit “China. Through the looking glass.”

Close to them there are old and new patterns, traditional clothes and their contemporary interpretations: something old and something new, in a perfect marriage between East and West. A selection coming from The Costume Institute and the Department of Asian Art collection as costumes, paintings, porcelains, and art “other” including movies, revealing enchanting reflections of Chinese imagery. Of course something blue was not forgotten….

Photo: Roberto Cavalli (Italian, born 1940). Evening dress, fall/winter 2005–6. Courtesy of Roberto Cavalli.

Cavalli’s haute couture dress, symbol of the exhibition, is an example of the impact of Chinese aesthetics on Western fashion and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. Through the looking glass of fashion, designers conjoin disparate stylistic references into a mix of Chinese aesthetic and cultural traditions.

The exhibition features more than 140 examples of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear alongside Chinese art. Filmic representations of China are incorporated throughout to reveal how our visions of China are framed by narratives that draw upon popular culture, and also to recognize the importance of cinema as a medium through which to understand the richness of Chinese history.

Discover more about the exhibition in Europeana Fashion Event area and give a look to Orient Inspired Selection on Europeana Fashion Tumblr!

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