For this year’s biggest night in fashion, the Costume Institute is digging out the rarest pieces of its archive for a never-before-seen blend of fashion and technology
No shock here: Anna Wintour has officially had enough of the life-sized cat looks and “peg the patriarchy” corsets. Announced today (November 8) by the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Instagram, this year’s Met Ball theme – titled “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” – will focus on the emotion, creativity, and craftsmanship behind some of the most historic pieces in the Met’s fashion archive. Particularly, for the Costume Institute’s correlating Spring 2024 exhibition, the Met will “reawaken” 250 rarely-seen garments from the museum’s collection that are too fragile to ever be worn again – displaying archival garments next to contemporary iterations and using different methods of sensory stimulation, AI, and CGI to safely bring historic pieces back to life.
“This innovative show will push the boundaries of our imagination and invite us to experience many facets of a work, to learn more about its history, and, ultimately, to gain a deeper appreciation of its beauty,” Max Hollein, the Met’s CEO told Vogue. Meanwhile, the Met teased the exhibition’s cutting-edge curation and technology on Instagram, stating: “When garments enter The Met collection, they can no longer be worn on the human body. So how can we understand the movement and energy of these masterpieces of fashion?”
While any specific garments have yet to be revealed, the line-up is set to span 400 years of fashion history – featuring works by designers Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney, and Connor Ives, as well as pioneering fashion figures, from Elsa Schiaparelli to Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Hubert de Givenchy. Together, looks will be displayed throughout three “zones” – Land, Sea, and Sky – each tracing fashion’s ever-changing relationship to the “natural world” and highlighting the industry’s contemporary focus on sustainability, circular designs, and natural materials.
Inside each zone, guests can expect to see items displayed among optical illusions, light projections, AI, and CGI technologies developed by legendary photographer and SHOWstudio founder Nick Knight, plus a number of accompanying scents crafted by artist Sissel Tolaas – best known for her work alongside Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga.
As for fashion’s most glamorous red carpet, we’re sure to see designers dig into their own early archives come May. Perhaps we’re also in store for a repeat of Kim Kardashian’s controversial Marilyn Monroe Met dress, with guests scouting out their own rare pieces of fashion history? For the sake of the garnments, we hope not tbh.
Last year’s Met Ball – a tribute to the late Karl Lagerfeld – saw a number of looks inspired by the iconic designer’s stints at Chloé, Fendi, and Chanel. Elsewhere, guests who took the theme more literally – grabbing inspiration from Lagerfeld’s signature suiting and cat Coupette [Jared Leto and Doja Cat, we’re looking at you] – found themselves upstaged by a singular cockroach. For Anna’s sake, let’s hope we do better this year.
As we wait for May to roll around, revisit all the best looks from the 2023 Met Ball here.