Evening cloak, Charles Frederick Worth. Photo: Nick Knight / Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Cutting-edge curation and technology will together reveal precious masterpieces of fashion as they’ve never been seen before at next year’s Costume Institute exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Announced today, the Spring 2024 exhibit will be entitled “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Approximately 250 items drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection—some very rarely seen in public before—will be displayed in an entirely new way. Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, said: “The Met’s innovative spring 2024 Costume Institute exhibition will push the boundaries of our imagination and invite us to experience the multisensory facets of a garment.” He added: “‘Sleeping Beauties’ will heighten our engagement with these masterpieces of fashion by evoking how they feel, move, sound, smell, and interact when being worn, ultimately offering a deeper appreciation of the integrity, beauty, and artistic brilliance of the works on display.”
Left and right: Dresses, Loewe, fall 2023. Center: Evening ensemble, Nina Ricci, circa 1958. Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
From a 17th century English Elizabethan-era bodice to 21st century acquisitions by designers including Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney, and Connor Ives, the core exhibit will span 400 years of history. Other pieces featured will include designs by Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, and many other canonical fashion creators. These will lie at the heart of a curation that aims to unstitch and enlighten our understanding of the natural world through the fashioning of dress and textiles.
Venus ball gown and Junon ball gown, Christian Dior, fall 1949. Photo: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Speaking in advance of this morning’s announcement,…
