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If there’s been one unifying theme of all the blockbuster fashion shows Metropolitan Museum of ArtIt’s the simple idea that fashion is art.
“Costume Art,” announced Monday as the next big show in the museum’s Costume Institute — to be launched by the starry Met Gala in 2026 — aims to make that connection more literal than ever, pairing costumes with objects from across the museum to show how fashion has long been intertwined with various art forms.
Max Hallin, CEO and director of the Met, said in an interview before Monday’s announcement that he hoped the exhibition would take visitors new york Museum on a (very fashionable) journey through art history, where they’ll see all the connections.
“This is a show that can really live in the museum in engaging ways and draw from all the different areas of our collection – paintings, sculpture, drawings,” Hollen said.
“I hope we can all agree that fashion is art,” Hollen said. “But really I think the exhibit… will make it clear how fashion is really happening, so to speak, throughout the museum and in all the different mediums already.”
According to the curator in charge of the Costume Institute, the new show will examine the decorated body, and will be organized thematically based on different body types. Andrew BoltonFor example, this would include “nude body” and “classical body”, but also less expected topics such as “pregnant body” and “aging body”,
The connections that will be made between the artworks and the costumes will vary, “ranging from the formal to the conceptual, the aesthetic to the political, the personal to the universal, the pictorial to the symbolic and the playful to the profound,” the curators said in a statement.
An example: In the “Naked Body” section, German artist Albrecht Dürer’s 1504 print will be paired with a spandex bodysuit. Belgian Retells the story of designer Walter Van Beyerendonck from the 2009 collection Adam and Eve In the Garden of Eden.
It’s also a show that will have a new home. “Costume Art,” which will open to the public on May 10, will inaugurate new gallery space spanning approximately 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters), just outside the museum’s Great Hall.
This means that when A-listers hit the main steps at the Met Gala on May 5 — perhaps ready to parade famous objects of art — they’ll be only a few feet from the exhibit, making it easier to view the art before sipping and socializing. (False details — like celebrity hosts and specific dress codes — will be shared later.)
Hollein said the museum was primarily concerned with giving fashion a more prominent place and giving regular visitors a seamless experience. In years past, long lines for fashion exhibitions would spill over into other galleries and create bottlenecks in inconvenient locations.
The new Conde M. Nast Gallery – created from what was formerly the museum’s retail store – will house not only all of the upcoming Spring Costume Institute exhibits, but other shows from different parts of the museum.
Bolton said in a statement that the gallery space “will mark a significant moment for the department, acknowledging the important role fashion plays not only in art history but also in contemporary culture.”
“Costume Art” opens to the public on May 10, 2026 and runs through January 10, 2027.