LACMA Exhibition Traces Chinese Women's Fashion from Qing Dynasty to Modernity

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has opened 'Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity', an exhibition drawn entirely from its permanent collection. The show features over 70 rare garments, tracing the evolution of Chinese women's dress from late Qing Dynasty embroidered robes to 1930s qipao and 1950s cheongsam. The exhibition was inspired by a 2020 approach from Berkeley-based artist and designer Chere Lai Mah, who sought a permanent home for her collection of 19th- and 20th-century Chinese women's clothing, amassed over 45 years. The display highlights how Chinese and Chinese American women used fashion to negotiate identity amid societal change.