Met Costume Institute Previews Costume Art Exhibit

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute previewed its new exhibit, "Costume Art," ahead of Monday's Met Gala, presenting over 400 fashion garments and art objects that trace the dressed body through centuries of history while challenging traditional ideals of beauty.

Curator Andrew Bolton guided reporters through the installation late last week in the newly inaugurated Conde Nast galleries on the museum's main floor, off the Great Hall. "Now, we go through and reclaim the body," Bolton said, highlighting sections devoted to the corpulent, disabled, pregnant, and aging forms. The exhibit, the most body-positive effort by the institute to date, features custom mannequins modeled after real people with diverse body types. It opens to the public on May 10 and runs through January 10, 2027.

Housed in former retail space, the permanent galleries mark a prominent upgrade for the self-funding Costume Institute, which raised a record $31 million at last year's Met Gala. "We're in the epicenter of the museum," Bolton noted. The location will host all future fashion exhibits, improving accessibility and allowing longer runs, such as this eight-month display.