The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the theme of its 2026 exhibition: “Costume Art.” With a primary focus on a grand scope of Western art, it will bridge the gap between the two distinct yet often intertwined artistic mediums—fashion and art—and their relationship to the human body.
“Fashion’s acceptance as an art form has really occurred on art’s terms,” head curator Andrew Bolton told Vogue ahead of the announcement. “It’s premised on the negation, on the renunciation, of the body, and on the [fact that] aesthetics are about disembodied and disinterested contemplation.”
Thus, “Costume Art” will showcase great works of fashion alongside artistic representations of the body. Sneak-peek examples include a bulbous ensemble by Rei Kawakubo from Comme des Garçons’s fall/winter 2017 collection juxtaposed with La Poupée, a gelatin silver print by surrealist artist Hans Bellmer, as well as an anatomically drawn bodysuit from Walter Van Beirendonck’s fall/winter 2009 collection paired with Albrecht Dürer’s 1504 engraving Adam and Eve.
Additionally, the mannequins will play a larger part in the theme’s presentation, cast from real bodies to give life to the clothes. Artist Samar Hejazi has also been commissioned to design mirrored heads for the mannequins, inviting viewers into the show more so than ever before. “Part of that is to reflect on the lived experience of the bodies you’re looking at, and also to reflect your own lived experience—to facilitate empathy and compassion,” Bolton explained. Body types will be “loosely divided,” according to Vogue, into three categories derived from thematic manifestations in art: the classical and nude; the anatomical; and the underrepresented, such as the pregnant and the aging body.
The exhibition, which will be open to the public from May 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027, will be presented inside the new 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries, next to the Met’s Great Hall, which will serve as the permanent location for all future Costume Institute shows. This marks a departure from past exhibits, which were often siloed in a separate room, with the recent notable exception of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”
When is the 2026 Met Gala?
The stars will head up the Met steps on May 4, 2026. Following tradition, it’ll take place on the first Monday in May.
What is the 2026 Met Gala dress code?
The official dress code has not yet been announced, but it’ll likely be inspired by the upcoming exhibit. In 2024 and 2025, the dress code was announced in February, just a few months ahead of the gala in May.
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