NEW YORK – Maybe it’s time to break out those fairytale party dresses. The theme of the upcoming Met Gala has been revealed: “Sleeping Beauties: The Awakening of Fashion. “
In this case, however, the name refers to a princess with a finger prick, but to the fabulous dress she might wear. The stars of the Met’s spring exhibition, which will begin during the Met Gala on May 6, will wear precious clothes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s extensive Costume Institute collection, some too flimsy to hang upright for fear of being hanged. They will rest in demonstration cases, like Sleeping Beauty herself.
Curator Andrew Bolton, who runs all of the Met’s successful fashion shows, says he’s looking for a way to literally bring to life a collection of 33,000 pieces, many of which are never seen. He chose around 250 of them, spread over 4 centuries. .
“Fashion is a living art form,” Bolton said Wednesday as he led a group of reporters into the bowels of the museum where the conservation lab is located and where the garments “sleep,” in his own words. His goal, he says, is to bring garments closer to museum visitors through other senses: not just sight, but also smell and hearing.
“When a suit enters the Met’s collection, it fits irrevocably,” Bolton explained. “You can’t wear it, obviously, you can’t see it move, you can’t feel it, you can’t hear it, you can’t touch it. “. ” The concept of “awakening the sensory aspect” of the garment.
This may simply mean that there will be fragrances in a gallery, perhaps similar to the fragrance used by the wearer. It also means that the sound of knives will accompany a clothed Alexander McQueen covered in bare, varnished knife casings.
The original plan was to organize the exhibition around certain masterpieces, but then the curators changed their strategy. The themes of the earth, the sea and the sky will organize the exhibitions.
“It’s very much based on nature, as you can see, and Andrew’s vision ranges from snakes to roses,” joked Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor-in-chief and doyenne of American fashion who runs the gala each year and accompanied Bolton to the premiere.
Bolton added: “I think nature is a broader metaphor for fashion: the fragility and ephemerality of fashion, but also the circular nature of fashion, the concepts of regeneration and rebirth. That’s the world of herbs. “
Among the oldest items: a small 17th-century Elizabethan-era bodice embroidered with nature-themed elements, such as polka dots on a pod and birds eating insects. This bodice rests on a mannequin, but close to it, a striking 19th-century silk satin dance gown. The 19th-century English designer, Charles Frederick Worth, was resting on a table. Like fifty objects to display, it is too delicate to present in any other way.
The immersive nature of the exhibit is likely to be a little scary to some, Bolton noted, particularly the unveiling of a black tulle dress covered with embroidered blackbirds, designed just before World War II. Like many older items, it will be paired with A Cool Garment, in this case a McQueen jacket animated through Hitchcock’s “Birds. “
As in many exhibitions, the generation will be used to create an atmosphere, in this case “a Hitchcockian flock of black birds” on the ceiling. “If you’re afraid of birds, I wouldn’t go there,” Bolton said.
All that remains to be announced: the celebrities will be co-hosts of the Met Gala, which will take place as usual on the first Monday in May. The Treadmill is one of the biggest pop culture showcases of the year with stars like Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Billy Porter and Rihanna wearing outfits in keeping with the theme of the evening. Last year’s gala revered the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, but other years focused on broader themes such as punk, American fashion or camp.
Bolton said he imagined this year’s visitors would use the nature theme to consult their choice of clothing. “Probably a lot of flowers,” Bolton surmised.
The exhibition will be open from May 10 to September. 2, 2024.