The upcoming Costume Institute exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art — which Vogue’s fundraising Met Gala supports — promises to be bigger than ever.
Astonishing photos from the upcoming “Costume Art” show, timed to the eagerly anticipated Met Gala on May 4, reveal an array of wild designs hanging on an eyebrow-raising collection of supersize mannequins.
Instead of relying on the traditional sample size of 2, the exhibit eagerly celebrates a range of shapes, including pregnant, disabled and aging bodies — reflecting a shift playing out on red carpets in recent years.
Stars including Sienna Miller and Rihanna have embraced their pregnant bodies in high-profile moments, turning their pending motherhood into fashion statements.
Curator Andrew Bolton told the AP the intention was “to challenge a history of museum mannequin display that’s very much characterized by thin, abled and standardized bodies.”
Real-life models were used to create the mannequins through photogrammetry. They include artist Michaela Stark and Sinéad Burke, an Irish disability activist with dwarfism who was featured on the cover of British Vogue in 2023.
Also included are athlete Aimee Mullins, who wears prosthetic lower legs, Aariana Rose Philip, a musician and model who uses a wheelchair, and French singer-songwriter and plus-size model Yseult.
Besides their shape, the faces of the mannequins are polished in reflective steel so visitors can see themselves, which organizers said is to be a deliberate attempt to help the viewer identify with the model.
“You’re looking not only at the person the mannequin is meant to embody, but also yourself,” Bolton added.
The exhibit opens May 10 and runs through January 2027. It will debut in the museum’s newly expanded Costume Institute galleries and aligns with the gala’s broader framing of fashion as an art form, and it will be used in the museum’s permanent collection, according to the AP.
As celebrities appear to shrink in size and the fashion industry seemingly pulls back on the once-robust inclusivity movement, the Met’s latest move signals a push to reassert a broader vision of representation.
And while the exhibit will include plenty of classic body shapes, Bolton told the AP this is an opportunity to add new voices to the conversation, not “reject what came before.”
“We’re using it as an opportunity to add new voices and new silhouettes and new presences,” he said. “The figures don’t deny the past, but in a way, I suppose they complete the picture.”
Additional details about designers featured in the exhibit are expected to be released by the museum.
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