Mac Guo Pei makeup collection

The Met Ball - it's the most fantastical event of the year, where the beautiful and the glamorous flock together in their finery to fundraise for the Metropoliton Museum of Art's Institute in New York, and this years theme and exhibition is China: Through the Looking Glass. Alongside the likes of Balenciaga, McQueen and Dior, fabled Chinese couturier Guo Pei will be showing her creations in the exhibition. The designer has also created eight dresses especially for MAC Cosmetics, which will be revealed the day after the Met Gala on 5th May, as the inspiration for a capsule make-up collection launching in October.

"There is a Chinese saying, 'There is a kingdom in a flower; a wisdom in a leaf,'" Guo Pei explains of her inspiration behind the collection. "I always find the power of nature fascinating, especially when the flowers are blossoming. The idea inspired the creative process of the dresses for MAC. I finished my preliminary sketch in my study on one quiet afternoon without a break. However, while the drawings were beautiful, they lacked completeness. Then one day, my daughter showed me a set of extraordinarily beautiful pictures of the Milky Way. The intoxicating colors of the universe sparked a power of life in my soul... I captured the energy and created eight dresses for MAC - "Garden of Soul". Based upon the eight dresses, we developed this beautiful makeup collection."

To create the campaign images, the eight intricately made dresses were shipped in wooden crates to London, where they were shot by Sølve Sundsbø. "The visual we created is lyrical and expresses the spirit of elegance and sophistication, with a flirty-ness and a bit of humor," says James Gager, Creative Director of MAC Cosmetics. "The image captures her creations in a very magical way."