Curated by Andrew Bolton

Among the most subtly erotic images in all cinema is the slow-motion shot of Maggie Cheung wearing an iridescent cheongsam that shimmers red to green as she ascends the stairs in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2002). Working with his longtime production and costume designer, William Chang, Wong is the artistic director for “China: Through the Looking Glass,” a collaboration between the Met’s Costume Institute and its Department of Asian Art. The exhibition will showcase decorative objects and clothes from three centuries of Chinese history, as well as fashions by Western designers inspired by Chinese design and imagery—from Paul Poiret and Mainbocher to Chanel and Charles James, from Saint Laurent and Balenciaga to Dries Van Noten and Paul Smith—more than forty in all. There will be films, but also theatrical and musical performances and an accompanying publication with contributions from Wong, designer John Galliano, and numerous scholars.

— Amy Taubin