A preview of ‘Costume Art’, The Met’s latest spring Costume Institute exhibition, the opening of which is heralded by the Met Gala
Each year, The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds its annual spring Costume Institute exhibition, a blockbuster fashion display which draws on the 33,000 items of clothing, accessories and ephemera in its collection, alongside external loans depending on its theme. Recent iterations have included Superfine: Tailoring Black Style (2025), Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion (2024) and Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty (2023), with memorable past exhibitions including Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (held in 2018, over 1.6 million people visited), Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology (2016) and Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011).
Though the annual exhibition remains best-known for its opening act: the Met Gala, the Costume Institute’s fundraising dinner, which takes place in the week prior to its opening. And, while cameras are not allowed inside, the star-studded red carpet is one of the most-watched (and scrutinised) of the year – so much so, it is often deemed ‘the Oscars of fashion’. In anticipation of the 2026 edition – which takes place next month – here’s everything Wallpaper* knows so far about this year’s event, from dress code to co-chairs, and the accompanying exhibition, ‘Costume Art’.
The date: Monday 4 May, 2026
Traditionally, the Met Gala takes place on the first Monday of May, which this year falls Monday 4 May, 2026. It precedes the accompanying exhibition, ‘Costume Art’, which opens on May 10, 2026, with the Met Gala guest list getting a preview (the spring exhibition is also unveiled to the press the morning prior to the event). It is currently slated to run until 10 January 2027, though some previous exhibitions have been extended due to demand – like Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology, which attracted over 750,000 visitors over its run.
The exhibition: ‘Costume Art’
In November of last year, The Met revealed the theme of this year’s Costume Institute spring show, ‘Costume Art’, a century-spanning exploration of the interplay between the body and clothing which will comprise not only contemporary and historical fashion, but art, sculpture and antiquity from The Met’s expansive permanent collection (there are around 1.5 million objects spread across 17 departments). Andrew Bolton, curator of the Met’s Costume Institute, said that one thing that unites many of these objects, which date back 5,000 years, is the idea of the ‘dressed body’ – whether objects for adornment or protection, or depictions of fabric and clothing in portraiture.
‘“Costume Art” is a celebration of the body in all of its strengths and weaknesses; its resiliencies and continuities,’ he said at the time. ‘Its perfections, its imperfections, its idiosyncrasies and commonalities; and, above all, its sublime beauty, its wondrous complexity and its glorious and miraculous diversity.’ Bolton also revealed the show’s structure: ‘chapters’ will include ‘The Naked Body’, ‘The Abstract Body’, ‘The Ageing Body’ and ‘The Pregnant Body, among others, with Bolton hoping that the era-traversing displays will spark new conversations and revelations. Some of the fashion so far slated to be on display includes garments by Rei Kawakubo, Riccardo Tisci, Walter Van Beirendonck, Mariano Fortuny and Charles James.
‘Costume Art’ will also herald the opening of the Costume Institute’s new home, an expansive space adjacent to The Met’s Great Hall (as such, it is in a much more prominent position in the museum). The 12,000 sq ft gallery is designed by Brooklyn-based architecture firm Paterson Rich Office and will be named after Condé Montrose Nast, the founder of the American publishing house, which will also serve as the renovation’s lead sponsor. ‘We are expanding our long-standing commitment to collecting and presenting fashion within the context of our vast global collection,’ said Max Hollein, The Met’s director and CEO.
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