The Costume Institute Revealed The 2020 Met Gala Theme
It’s about time! Or it will be, come Spring 2020. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the theme of the Costume Institute’s spring blockbuster exhibition and accompanying gala, setting the countdown clock in motion for one of the most hotly anticipated red carpet events of the year.
The spring exhibition, “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” will explore Western fashion history through the framework of conceptions of time. Drawing from several literary and philosophical sources like the novels of Virginia Woolf and the work of the early-20th-century French philosopher Henri Bergson, Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge, has conceived of the exhibition in two distinct yet interconnected sections that highlight both a linear concept of time, as well as an idea of time that is more cyclical in nature.
According to reports from Vogue and the New York Times, the “timescales” presented in the show will illustrate a “chronology of fashion from 1870 to 2020,” and “counter-chronologies,” described by Bolton as “folds in time.” Visual and temporal juxtapositions are what Bolton does best in his showcasing of the Costume Institute’s holdings, which he and his team have executed to great effect in past exhibitions, so we can’t wait to see what thought-provoking pairings will be on display.
While past spring blockbusters have seen the Costume Institute leaning heavily on loans from other institutions and fashion houses, “About Time” will finally showcase the rich holdings of the Costume Institute’s permanent collection. As this show will coincide with the monumental occasion of the museum’s 150th anniversary and a year of planned exhibitions and events to celebrate the museum’s own history, it’s fitting that the Costume Institute will take the opportunity to draw from its own archives as well as “fill in the gaps” of the collection, as Bolton has stated.
With all the emphasis on interpreting the passage of time, it’ll be interesting to see how gala attendees take on this decidedly abstract theme. Past galas have blessed us with everything from Lady Gaga’s multiple outfit changes to Rihanna rocking a papal mitre, so guests are really going to have to pull out all the stops to compete. Time to get started on those outfit ideas, people!
When Will It Open?
The exhibition will open to the public on May 7 and run through September 7, 2020, but mark your calendars for Monday, May 4 for all the red carpet action. The first Monday in May, as we all know, might as well be a national holiday for fashion buffs.
Who Will Be Hosting?
This year’s Gala will be chaired by Anna Wintour, Nicolas Ghesquière of Louis Vuitton (the brand is a sponsor of the exhibition), Emma Stone, Meryl Streep, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Now that’s a timeless crew.
What Will the Show Include?
“About Time” will display one hundred and fifty years of Western women’s fashion, with the emphasis on the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, supplemented with “new gifts in honor of the 150th anniversary sourced from designers or collectors to fill holes in the collection,” according to the *NYT*.
What even is time?
Time is a flat circle, time is linear, time is cyclical...time, for the fashion historian, is both a marker and an agent of change, and Bolton’s interpretation is sure to add to the discourse of how we experience change, and how garments bear witness to these changes, both in structure and silhouette as well as physical signs of wear. It’ll be interesting to see if the latter is incorporated into the exhibition, considering the meticulously high standards of museum-quality objects.
Why time?
Bolton has discussed time in relation to how he conceived of the exhibition’s theme, but also spoke about the “creative exhaustion” engendered by “the 24/7 time of digital capitalism.” If the takeaway of the spring show is not simply a linear progression of the fashionable silhouette, but also a critique on the demand for never-ending output (especially as the fashion industry is grappling with the deleterious effects of fast fashion and the rise of slower alternatives), it would be a welcome voice. Time can encompass much more than just its passage; time offers an opportunity for reflection and contemplation.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
