Overview
- Opening to the public on May 10, 2026 and running through January 10, 2027, the exhibition will debut in a new 12,000-square-foot space just off the Great Hall created from the former retail store and designated for future spring Costume Institute shows.
- The curators structure the presentation around themed bodies such as the Naked Body, the Classical Body, the Pregnant Body, and the Aging Body to foreground the dressed body in art and fashion.
- Display plans center the viewer’s embodied experience with mannequins on six-foot pedestals, mirrored heads by artist Samar Hejazi, and castings of real bodies to wear selected looks.
- Cross-collection pairings will link clothing to art history, including a 1504 Albrecht Dürer print shown with Walter Van Beirendonck’s 2009 spandex bodysuits in the Naked Body section.
- The museum says major support comes from Jeff and Lauren Bezos with additional funding from Saint Laurent and Condé Nast, and the show will follow the Met Gala, the Costume Institute’s primary fundraiser.