In what is one of the biggest exhibitions undertaken by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the China: Through the Looking Glass exhibition which took more than 2 years to plan, showcases 150 dresses, gowns, costumes and accessories from 40 designers. The new exhibition which opens and 7 May and runs through 16 August, is organized by The Costume Institute in collaboration with the Department of Asian Art, will explore the impact of Chinese aesthetics on Western fashion, and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. High fashion will be juxtaposed with Chinese costumes, paintings, porcelains, and other art, including films, to reveal enchanting reflections of Chinese imagery.Encompassing a display space of 30,000 square feet over two floors, the exhibit shows how Western designers found inspiration in all things Chinese, from the elaborate embroidered costumes of Imperial China to Shanghai in the 1920s, up to the military garb of the Cultural Revolution. "It is a monumental, immersive exploration of the influences of Chinese art and film on western fashion's greatest design talents," said Thomas P. Campbell, the director and CEO of the Metropolitan.