Last year, annual luxury spending by Chinese consumers exceeded 770 billion yuan ($109 billion), accounting for more than one-third of the global total, according to management consultancy McKinsey & Co. At the time, the company forecast that 2019 would be the first year in which China would overtake the US as the world's largest market for fashion and luxury items.

According to the China National Textile and Apparel Council, in 2017, some 45.6 billion items of clothing were bought in the country, up 66 times on the figure for 1978. Spending on clothing has risen by more than a hundredfold in the past four decades, reaching 2.87 trillion yuan in 2017.

China has not only seen sales and consumption rise significantly in recent decades. As a civilization spanning thousands of years, the country's culture and traditions have also provided a rich and constant source of inspiration for fashion designers worldwide.

In 2015, at the annual exhibition held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, some 130 haute couture dresses and ready-to-wear items showcasing the impact of Chinese design on Western fashion were displayed.

Titled China: Through the Looking Glass, the exhibition included works from almost every recognized designer and leading fashion house, including Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford.

Andrew Bolton, who spent two years organizing the exhibition, told Vogue magazine that the main aim of the event was to "recast Orientalism in a more positive light as an exchange of ideas and an honored source of influence".

One surprise at the exhibition was a display of contemporary Chinese designer Guo Pei's work. Footage of a yellow caped gown, with a train nearly 5 meters long worn by the singer and fashion designer Rihanna on the red carpet at the event's opening ceremony, went viral.

Guo's design was dubbed the "omelet dress" due to its resemblance to the breakfast staple.