“Fashion is very much an art form not in spite of the body, but because of it,” says Andrew Bolton, OBE, curator in charge of the Costume Institute. And this year’s exhibition, “Costume Art,” seeks not just to address this tantalizingly complex issue, but to explore it in all its many facets. The central thesis is as simple as it is thrilling: pair existing artworks with corresponding garments or accessories and let your synapses fire. The very layout of the show—broken into sections that move from Biblical nudity to the au courant idea of body diversity to the ways in which we’ve long used clothes not merely to adorn but to subvert and distort the body—indicates just how richly drawn this subject is and why it’s mesmerized artists since time immemorial.
Sinéad Burke, CEO of Tilting the Lens, emphasizes how this exhibit highlights bodies that have traditionally been overlooked, and as someone with a physical disability, she is among those featured. Her body has been memorialized in the exhibition as a custom mannequin, alongside model and musician Aariana Rose Philip, transforming their presence into a lasting part of the narrative around representation, fashion, and identity.
Additionally, this exhibition will be the first in the costume department’s new home, the Conde M. Nast Galleries. Once relegated to a modest 4,500-square-foot space in the museum’s basement, the department will now take flight in a grand, 12,000-square-foot display room on the ground floor, just off the central Great Hall. It is, says Max Hollein, the museum’s director, a symbol of how important clothing has become to The Met’s mission in exploring the many facets of art in the modern age. “We collect paintings, sculptures, textiles, arms and armor, but especially all the fashion,” he says. “And we want to make sure that it’s understood that fashion is a fantastic form of art.”
Featuring testimonials from Misty Copeland, Alex Consani, Gwendoline Christie, Aimee Mullins, Sinéad Burke, Aariana Rose Philip and more.
Director: Nina Ljeti
Directors of Photography: Michael Lopez, Henry Gill
Editor: Evan Allan
Senior Producer: Bety Dereje
Producer: Rashida Josiah
Associate Producers: Anisa Kennar, Justine Ramirez, Lea Donenberg
Camera Operator: Chanthila Phaophanit
Assistant Camera: Kahdeem Prosper Jefferson, Gordan Wong
Gaffers: Billy Voermann, Mary Kalecinska
Swing: Alex Frischman
Audio: Mariya Chulichkova, Joanna Hunt
Set Designers: Ilana Portney, Dana Keren
Production Assistants: Quinton Johnson, Myles Haywood
Runners: Edie Chesters, Rachel Ademidun
Groomer for Andrew Bolton: Shin Arima
Makeup Artist for Sinéad Burke and Alex Consani: Ai Yokomizo
Hairstylist for Sinéad Burke and Alex Consani: Sonny Molina
Makeup Artist for Misty Copeland: Victor Henao
Hairstylist for Misty Copeland: Nai’vasha Grace
Makeup Artist for Aariana Philip: Meadow Soleil Cloud
Makeup Artist for Gwendoline Christie: Daniel Kolaric
Hairstylist for Gwendoline Christie: Joe Kelly
Hair & Makeup Artist for Aimee Mullins: Stèfan Jemeel
Production Coordinator: Tanía Jones
Production Manager: Kristen Helmick
Senior Production Manager: Venita Singh-Warner
Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors
Assistant Editors: Andy Morell, Fynn Lithgow
Senior Motion Graphics Designer: Samuel Fuller
Post Production Coordinator: Holly Frew
Supervising Editor: Kameron Key
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Entertainment Director: Sergio Kletnoy
Global Talent Casting Directors: Ignacio Murillo, Morgan Senesi
Executive Producer: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Digital Video: Romy van den Broeke
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Video Programming: Thespena Guatieri
Florist: London Blooming Haus
Photography By Paul Westlake
Images Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Special Thanks: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Tasneem Abushanab
June 5, 2023 at 7:03 am
First !
مطبخ لوان lawan cuisine
June 5, 2023 at 7:04 am
First comment ????
LIZZIEMAC2010
June 5, 2023 at 7:06 am
Second!
pear tree
June 5, 2023 at 7:08 am
I’m fourth ig ????
alberto alonso
June 5, 2023 at 7:16 am
I LOVE this series
Leslie
June 5, 2023 at 7:17 am
I love both!
Svnny
June 5, 2023 at 7:19 am
5:22 The before photo, that is just grotesque.
Hannah HBIC
June 5, 2023 at 10:02 am
They should’ve chosen a better photo coz that suit looked impeccable.
CPL Juan Maravilla
June 5, 2023 at 7:21 am
We need more of this Series. brilliant.
Matt Bray
June 5, 2023 at 9:22 am
Agreed
Hannah HBIC
June 5, 2023 at 10:01 am
Yes, please.
•N x f e l i b a t a•
June 5, 2023 at 1:00 pm
oh, definitely!
vibes dreams
June 5, 2023 at 7:37 am
i love it
CmGPersonal
June 5, 2023 at 8:07 am
LOVE this series but did Shie just say there’s a horse hair layer to a Stella McCartney jacket????
Sneha Shrivastav
June 5, 2023 at 10:08 am
I caught that too! Very curious now
Milo Vids
June 5, 2023 at 2:03 pm
Horse hair is typically a strip of thin bendy polyester “fabric” that adds structure to fabric almost like a softer boning. It is mostly used to create a more dramatic ruffle in the end of a dresses hem. not sure why its called horse hair because it has no horse hair in it at all 🙂
Sneha Shrivastav
June 5, 2023 at 2:27 pm
@Milo Vids thank you so much for clarifying!
HUFFLER
June 5, 2023 at 3:52 pm
yes, it’s a sign of great quality in tailoring and no it is not the same as horsehair ribbon that Milo was referring to. horsehair canvas is a canvas that has horsehair woven into the fabric in one direction, this creates a certain bounce in that one direction so it glides beautifully over the chest. It also creates a beautiful lapel roll.
Lea Reed
June 5, 2023 at 8:08 am
What a refreshing concept and so engaging for me too. Please keep this series going! ????????????
Gonzalo Pinilla P.
June 5, 2023 at 8:16 am
Always Stella ❤❤❤
Heather Euler
June 5, 2023 at 8:20 am
I can’t find the first two installments of the Creative Swap Project.
Phillip Wong
June 5, 2023 at 8:36 am
Is an interesting series, but both of them basically rip each other’s item apart and made it into fabric so it can be shaped to a totally new garment. Is not exactly like changing an existing item by altering it. They might as well send each other’s the fabrics TBH, it saves both of them times taking it apart
Deon Delduca
June 5, 2023 at 8:38 am
Brilliant!!!!!
marvin raphael monfort
June 5, 2023 at 9:34 am
both lovely recreations. shoutout to the zip-flare jeans of one of stella’s staff and shie’s yin-yang-ish moto jacket
the slayification of charlotte
June 5, 2023 at 9:51 am
shie is underrated omg
Hannah HBIC
June 5, 2023 at 10:04 am
That dress was stunning.
Barbie
June 5, 2023 at 9:56 am
OMG i love this !!!!!
Jacob Moon
June 5, 2023 at 10:51 am
We need MORE! This is so smart!
That messy life
June 5, 2023 at 11:29 am
Style is so subjective like I really don’t see fashion in most of these items they just seem awkward and a little over the top to me
Patty Blom
June 5, 2023 at 1:20 pm
Great transformations ???? Hope to see more of these
SassyBunny
June 5, 2023 at 1:47 pm
Brilliant! Make more !
Fatidic Lunacy
June 5, 2023 at 2:45 pm
Malaika Holmén looks amazing here!!
Brandon Morin
June 5, 2023 at 3:07 pm
Loveee theseee!