The Costume Institute opens a new permanent home.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art launches its 2026 Costume Institute exhibition, Costume Art, presenting garments from the collection alongside objects spanning 5,000 years of human history. The show also inaugurates the Costume Institute’s first dedicated permanent gallery space.
Costume Art runs from 10 May 2026 through 10 January 2027, making it one of the longest-running Costume Institute presentations in recent memory. Curator Andrew Bolton has described the exhibition as a celebration of the human body in all its complexity—organized around chapters including the Naked Body, the Abstract Body, the Aging Body, and the Pregnant Body, with particular attention to those the museum considers historically overlooked.
The exhibition creates unexpected pairings across the Met’s vast holdings. A 16th-century engraving by Albrecht Dürer appears alongside a 2009 bodysuit by Walter van Beirendonck. A 1938 Delphos gown by Mariano Fortuny is placed in dialogue with a 5th-century BCE terracotta statuette of Nike. Works by Charles James, Rei Kawakubo, and Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy are also featured.
Beyond the exhibition itself, Costume Art marks a structural milestone for the museum: the inauguration of a new 12,000 square foot gallery adjacent to the Met’s Great Hall, designed by Brooklyn-based Paterson Rich Office. The galleries are named for Condé Montrose Nast, whose company serves as lead donor. The move places fashion permanently at the threshold of one of the world’s most visited museums.
As the Met’s director Max Hollein noted at the announcement, the expansion reflects the institution’s long-standing commitment to collecting and presenting fashion within the context of its global collection.
