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The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced its major spring 2026 Costume Institute exhibition, Costume Art, and the inauguration of substantial new gallery spaces.
Opening on May 10, 2026, the exhibition will explore the centrality of the dressed body by creating a dynamic dialogue between garments from The Costume Institute and artworks spanning the entire history of The Met’s collection—from prehistory to the present.
To celebrate the opening of the spring 2026 exhibition, The Costume Institute Benefit (also known as The Met Gala) will take place on Monday, May 4. The event’s co-chairs and honorary chairs will be announced in the coming months, along with members of the Gala Host Committee.
The Met Gala, held annually on the first Monday in May, is arguably the most coveted and exclusive ticket in the world. For one spectacular night, a select group of global elite—including Hollywood royalty, influential politicians, chart-topping musicians, and cultural power players—ascends the museum steps. The event is a dramatic spectacle where guests peacock their most ambitious, often boundary-pushing, interpretations of the year’s theme
The show will be organized thematically around various body types, highlighting the profound, two-way relationship between clothing and the body. The goal is to reveal how artistic representations of the body are shaped by garments, and how the garments, in turn, are shaped by the bodies they clothe.
Costume Art will explore a spectrum of thematic body types. It will juxtapose pervasive types—such as the “Naked Body” and the “Classical Body”—with those that have been traditionally overlooked, like the “Pregnant Body” and the “Aging Body.”
The exhibition also highlights types reflecting shared characteristics, including the “Anatomical Body” and the “Mortal Body.” Through strategic pairings of fashions and artworks, the presentation will reveal diverse connections: from formal to conceptual, aesthetic to political, individual to universal, illustrative to symbolic, and playful to profound. Crucially, objects will be displayed on traditional pedestals and platforms commonly found in art museums.
However, instead of using these structures to signal value, status, or significance, Costume Art employs them to establish equivalency among different art forms and bodily representations.
The exhibition will be on view at The Met Fifth Avenue from May 10, 2026, through January 10, 2027.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Roger Lynch, Lady Leslie Bonham Carter, Anna Wintour
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Max Hollein, Andrew Bolton, Aerin Lauder, Michael Kors, Lance LePere, Amy Griffin
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni -
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni -
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni -
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni -
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Roger Lynch, Nathan Rich, Max Hollein, Misty Copeland, Miriam Peterson, Andrew Bolton
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Michael Kors, Vera Wang, Thom Browne
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Andrew Bolton, Misty Copeland
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Andrew Bolton
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Andrew Bolton
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Nathan Rich, Miriam Peterson
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Roger Lynch
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Misty Copeland
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: BFA.com/Matteo Prandoni Max Hollein
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Ensemble, Riccardo Tisci (Italian, born 1974) for House of Givenchy (French, founded 1952), fall/winter 2010–11, haute couture; Courtesy Givenchy
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Kyōsai sketchbook (Kyōsai manga) 暁斎漫画, Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎 (Japanese, 1831– 1889), Meiji period (1868–1912), 1881 (Meiji 14); Purchase, Mary and James G. Wallach Foundation Gift, 2013 (2013.765)
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art “Corset Anatomia” ensemble, Renata Buzzo (Brazilian, born 1986), spring/summer 2025; Courtesy Renata Buzzo
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Plate 33 in Govard Bidloo, Ontleading des menschlyken Lichaems, Abraham Blooteling (Dutch, 1640–1690) and Pieter van Gunst (Dutch, 1659–1724) After Gerard de Lairesse (Dutch, 1641–1711), 1728; Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1952 (52.546.5)
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art “Pregnancy” dress, Georgina Godley (British, born 1955), fall/winter 1986–87, edition 2025; Purchase, Anthony Gould Fund, 2025.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Eleanor, Harry Callahan (American, 1912–1999), 1949; Gift of Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1991 (1991.1304). © The Estate of Harry Callahan; Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Ensemble, Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, born 1942) for Comme des Garçons (Japanese, founded 1969), fall/winter 2017–18; Purchase, Funds from various donors, by exchange, 2018 (2018.23a).
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art La Poupeé, Hans Bellmer (German, born Poland, 1902–1975), ca. 1936; Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987 (1987.1100.333). © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art “Bustle” muslin, Charles James (American, born Great Britain, 1906–1978), 1947; Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Millicent Huttleston Rogers, 1949 (2009.300.752)
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Evening dress, Mon. Vignon (French, ca. 1850- 1910), 1875–78; Gift of Mary Pierrepont Beckwith, 1969 (C.I69.14.12a, b)
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Impression of Amélie de Montfort, Jean- Baptiste Carpeaux (French, 1827–1875), ca. 1867–69; Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, 1989 (1989.289.2).
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art “Delphos” gown, Adèle Henriette Elisabeth Nigrin Fortuny (French, 1877–1965) and Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (Spanish, 1871– 1949) for Fortuny (Italian, founded 1906), 1920s; Gift of Estate of Lillian Gish, 1995 (1995.28.6a)
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Terracotta statuette of Nike, the personification of victory, Greek, late 5th century BCE; Rogers Fund, 1907 (07.286.23)
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Ensemble, Walter Van Beirendonck (Belgian, born 1957), spring/summer 2009; Purchase, Friends of The Costume Institute Gifts, 2020 (2020.45a–d).
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Adam and Eve, Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471– 1528), 1504; Fletcher Fund, 1919 (19.73.1).
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition
Image Credit: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collage: “Delphos” gown, Fortuny (Italian), Adèle Henriette Elisabeth Nigrin Fortuny and Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, 1920s. Gift of Frances J. Kiernan, 2005 (2005.328); Terracotta statuette of Nike, the personification of victory, late 5th century BCE. Rogers Fund, 1907 (07.286.23). Artwork by Julie Wolfe.
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