A model presents creations by Laurence Xu at the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. Photo provided to China Daily
The year 2015 is a big one for Laurence Xu.
On Jan 27, Xu became the first Chinese designer to present a catwalk show for two years running at the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. From May through August, three of his signature dresses will be exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York at its major exhibition China: Through the Looking Glass.
Haute Couture is an expression of French national pride and Parisian self-belief, so the committee has a very tough procedure to approve foreign designers' applications. But Xu's couture impressed the committee so much that he was invited to return.
China: Through the Looking Glass is this year's themed exhibition of the Met's Costume Institute. Anna Wintour, US Vogue's editor-in-chief, and curator Andrew Bolton selected designs for the exhibition that explore how China has fueled Western fashion's imagination. Xu is one of the few Chinese designers who stand alongside some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Tom Ford, John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld.
"It's my honor to be considered the Chinese representative at such international events," Xu says.
"As a designer, I want to make beautiful dresses. If my works can serve as a window through which people can see Chinese culture, that would be wonderful."
Xu first impressed the world in 2010 when Chinese actress Fan Bingbing wore his "dragon robe" on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. The gown was made using Nanjing Yunjin brocade with a dragon pattern that was only used for emperors in ancient China. It was listed among the top three gowns in the Red Carpet Fashion Awards of that week.
The "dragon robe" was later collected by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and will be displayed at the Metropolitan Museum this year.
The Victoria & Albert Museum describes it as "an eye-catching example of the luxury fashion popular in contemporary China. It also illustrates the growing interest Chinese have in their cultural heritage".
Curator Bolton chose the gown because he believes Xu was influenced by Tom Ford's dragon robe. Tom Ford was influenced by Saint Laurent and Saint Laurent was inspired by something from Shanghai. "That's how the East and West influence each other," Bolton says.
Last year at Paris Haute Couture Week, Xu presented a collection of 36 gowns that continued to draw on the traditional Chinese dragon motif. This year, he presented 30 gowns in the theme of Dunhuang.
Dunhuang, in Northwest China's Gansu province, was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and is best known for its Buddhist caves with murals and sculptures.
When Xu was young, his architect father told him about Dun-huang and how many Chinese artists learned painting and copied murals at the caves. Those beautiful folktales haunted him for many years until last July when he finally visited Dunhuang and was inspired.
