The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute will open Costume Art on May 10, 2026, its inaugural exhibition in the new Condé M. Nast Galleries — a nearly 12,000-square-foot space off the Great Hall designed by Peterson Rich Office — pairing close to 400 garments and artworks to argue for fashion's standing within art history, according to the museum's exhibition page.
The show, running through January 10, 2027, organizes its pairings around the dressed body rather than chronology or designer, moving through categories the museum describes as running from formal to conceptual, aesthetic to political, and individual to universal. Curator-in-Charge Andrew Bolton has said the opening of the new galleries "will mark a pivotal moment for the department, one that acknowledges the critical role that fashion plays not only within art history but also within contemporary culture," according to CBS New York.
Among the pairings the museum has confirmed: a John Galliano ensemble for Maison Margiela from the house's autumn/winter 2020–21 haute couture collection set alongside Raffaelle Monti's 1854 sculpture The Veiled Woman, and assemblages by the artist Julie Wolfe placed in dialogue with garments elsewhere in the galleries.
Why a new gallery matters more than a new theme
Costume Institute exhibitions have opened on a rotating theme most springs for decades; what distinguishes this one, by the museum's own account, is the space. The Condé M. Nast Galleries are purpose-built and adjacent to the Great Hall — a permanent architectural commitment rather than a temporary installation, and one the museum is using to stage its argument that clothing belongs beside painting and sculpture rather than in a separate curatorial category.
The exhibition is supported by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, with additional backing from Saint Laurent and Condé Nast, the museum said. It coincides with the annual Met Gala on May 4, 2026, for which the museum has set the dress code "Fashion is Art"; Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour are listed as co-chairs, with Bezos and Sánchez Bezos as honorary chairs.
The museum has also framed the show's body-type pairings as a deliberate correction: presentations organized to include forms of the body that fashion exhibitions have historically left out, rather than the single idealized silhouette such shows have tended to default to. Admission is free with general museum admission, and the galleries will offer large-print exhibition text; member previews begin on select weekend mornings ahead of the public opening.
A permanent gallery built specifically to hold fashion beside fine art is, by definition, a longer-term institutional bet than any single season's theme. Costume Art is the first test of what that bet looks like on the wall.
For a related fashion perspective, read Miami Swim Week 2024 Powered By Art Hearts Fashion.
For more context, read Sarah Burton Appointed at Givenchy, the House Announces.