Costume Art exhibition redefines fashion hierarchy at Met's new galleries

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has officially inaugurated its Costume Art exhibition within the newly established Condé Nast Galleries. The 12,000 sq ft space, located directly off the Great Hall, triples the size of the institute's previous basement location and places fashion in the same high-profile spotlight as ancient Egyptian artefacts. This strategic move acknowledges the immense popularity of fashion shows, which frequently rank among the Met's most visited exhibitions.

Curated by Andrew Bolton, the show pairs 200 couture garments and accessories with 200 artworks from the museum's collection to challenge longstanding hierarchies. The exhibition is structured around 13 thematic sections that explore diverse human body types, beginning with the Naked and Nude body and progressing through categories such as the Abstracted, Corpulent, Disabled, Mortal, and Aging bodies. Bolton noted that the expanded space provided the necessary leeway to explore these subjects in depth.

Among the highlights is the section on the Corpulent Body, which features ensembles by Australian designer Michaela Stark. Her corsets and bound garments deliberately accentuate bulges of fat and flesh, displayed alongside a Cycladic marble female figure from 4500-4000 BCE. The exhibition also includes a dedicated area for the Disabled Body, where mannequins styled after campaigner Sinéad Burke are deliberately pedestalised on high podiums to foreground diversity.

Anna Wintour attended the opening, describing the event as both her favourite day of the year and her most terrifying. While addressing the economic impact of the Met Gala on New York, she highlighted the necessity of funding for art in a successful city. She noted the event's ripple effect across the local economy, driving trade to businesses ranging from galleries to hairdressers, despite recent sponsorship controversies involving Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

The curatorial strategy involves specific pairings designed to reconsider how the dressed body is perceived. A spandex top with trompe l'oeil musculature is placed next to an engraving of Adam and Eve, while a Batsheva jumper emblazoned with the word Hag is displayed beside George Luks' The Old Duchess. The show also features a Vetements hoodie declaring I'm retired next to a Diane Arbus photograph of retirees.

By placing fashion on equal footing with historical objects, the exhibition invites visitors to reconsider the context of the art pieces alongside the fashion. From Yves Saint Laurent jackets paired with Van Gogh paintings to garments resembling skeletons in the Mortal Body section, the show emphasises strangeness and surprise. The Costume Institute's move to this new, prominent location marks a significant shift in how the institution presents the dressed body within its enormous collection.