The Met extending "China Through the Looking Glass" exhibit

The Met's "China Through the Looking Glass" exhibit was poised to be a success from the very beginning. It had all the proper pr, the support of the entire fashion community, including Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, and was the talk of town for everyone with internet access thanks to the Met Gala. The exhibit has turned out to be an even bigger success than originally thought, so much so that the Met has decided to extend the exhibit through Labor Day.

Tuesday, the exhibit also welcomed it's 500,000th visitor, and surprised them with a photo-op with Andrew Bolton who curated the show. What makes having a 500,000th visitor so impressive is that the Met saw 6.2 million visitors during its 2014 fiscal year. If one exhibit alone can draw in 500,000 people that is very telling.

The exhibit, which was organized in conjunction with the Department of Asian Art, spans close to 30,000-square-feet and extends to 16 galleries. In the eight weeks following its opening, the exhibit drew in 350,000 visitors. The show is so popular that it's trailing the heels of the Costume Institute's most popular exhibit, the "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" exhibit, which brought in 661,509 visitors.

The McQueen exhibit went for 15 weeks, however, compared to the 19 that the China Through the Looking Glass is now slated to go for. What helped make the exhibit so popular was the Met's social media efforts, as well as their partnership with yahoo. The other kicker was that fans of filmmaker Wong Kar Wai, who served as artistic director, and production designer Nathan Crowley of “Interstellar” and “The Dark Knight” fame, were also drawn to the exhibit.

It became an exhibit for more than just the typical fashion crowd that would be expected to attend. The Costume Institute has done its finest again, but, nothing less should be expected from them. They've certainly added to a great fiscal year for the Met.