Met Museum Opens Permanent Costume Institute Galleries with 'Costume Art' Exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art previewed its new permanent Costume Institute galleries and the 'Costume Art' exhibition on the morning of the 2026 Met Gala, which raised over $42 million. The exhibition, opening to the public on May 10, 2026, features over 400 objects from the Met's collections, spanning five millennia, and is organized around themes of the body: The Classical Body, The Pregnant Body, The Mortal Body, The Disabled Body, The Corpulent Body, The Abstract Body, The Reclaimed Body, The Naked Body, and The Epidermal Body. Mannequins feature mirrored faces instead of the previous stylized features based on Christy Turlington. Curator Andrew Bolton emphasized the connection between garments and artworks from across the Met's collection. The new Condé M. Nast galleries, designed by architects Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich of Peterson Rich (Brooklyn), are located off the Great Hall, replacing a gift shop and former office space. The space incorporates architectural elements from the museum's first and third buildings. Sustainability was prioritized with fixed plaster walls to reduce waste. The exhibition runs through January 10, 2027. A gift shop collection includes items by John Derian, Tory Burch, Thom Browne, and Charlotte Chesnais. Speakers at the press event included Anna Wintour, Venus Williams, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, and CEO Max Hollein.