Costume Institute's Spring 2019 Exhibition (and Gala) to Focus on Camp in Fashion

Ensemble, Virgil Abloh (American, born 1980) for Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh (Italian, founded 2013), pre-fall 2018 Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2018

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that The Costume Institute’s Spring 2019 exhibition will be Camp: Notes on Fashion, on view from May 9 through September 8, 2019 (preceded on May 6 by The Costume Institute Benefit). Presented in The Met Fifth Avenue’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall, it will explore the origins of the camp aesthetic and how it has evolved from a place of marginality to become an important influence on mainstream culture. Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on ‘Camp’ provides the framework for the exhibition, which will examine how fashion designers have used their métier as a vehicle to engage with camp in a myriad of compelling, humorous, and sometimes incongruous ways.

Costume Institute Benefit on May 6 with Co-Chairs Lady Gaga, Alessandro Michele, Harry Styles, Serena Williams, and Anna Wintour. The exhibition is made possible by Gucci. Additional support is provided by Condé Nast. On video The Met Ball 2018 highlights.