Chinese Arts Examined at the Met

NEW YORK — Visitors heading to this spring’s “China: Through the Looking Glass” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute are in for a multisensory experience, and that all-immersive approach can also be found in the substantial vellum-leaved catalogue. Depending where museumgoers’ interests lie, the People’s Republic might conjure up images of imperial robes, Mao suits or Shanghai street style, but Met’s take on China aims to be all-encompassing with a melange of fashion, film and art. In the catalogue, curator Andrew Bolton has turned to John Galliano for a question-and-answer about how China has influenced his work, as well as essays from filmmaker and the exhibition’s artistic director Wong Kar-wai; Harold Koda, and others. The 256-page tome includes 300 color illustrations and has a gold-stamped cover. Platon provided the new photographs to bring to life on the printed page how Chinese art and film have influenced Western fashion designers since the early 1900s. The catalogue will be in stores in early May, with the Fifth Avenue museum selling 500 numbered copies of a limited-boxed edition that includes a Platon print geared for framing. The exhibition opens May 7 and will run through Aug. 16. Bolton writes, “‘China: Through the

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...