Warrior Culture in Fashions at "China: through The Looking Glass"

In my second blog about "China: Through the Looking Glass" - an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - I would like to focus on wuxia. This word, which can be translated as "martial hero," expresses a genre of Chinese fiction. It is, most traditionally, a form of literature that focuses on adventures of martial artists in ancient China. 

Western designers often look for inspiration in literature and the fantasies of wuxia seem to be of particular interest. At the exhibition, a gallery is devoted to wuxia. You will be able to see shorts from famous Chinese movies that highlight the warrior stories and will be able to see a link between customs in the movies and the fashions on display. 

I very much enjoyed this gallery. The garments on display are either white or black and mostly made out of cotton. The silhouettes draw on the traditional warrior silhouette - there are layers of fabrics (undershirts and jackets), wide skirts/pants, and oversized sleeves to allow for easy movements (e.g., this was essential during a fight). There is also wonderful simplicity - while the looks draw on a tradition that is several thousand years old, they are eternally modern and appealing.  

The tradition of wuxia is now making it into other genre of popular culture, for instance, into online games. It will be interesting how ti continues to affect fashion and how fashion designers, and not only the Western ones highlighted in this exhibition, will interpret it and bring it to their customers through their designs. 

Check out other blogs about "China: Through the Looking Glass": 
Blog 1 - Gui Pei: Couture from Beijing in New York City