Fashion Takes Center Stage at The Met

Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art                                                                      

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute's new exhibit, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” opening on September 18, launches a two-part exploration of fashion in the United States in the Anna Wintour Costume Center. It establishes a modern vocabulary of American fashion based on its expressive qualities.
Approximately 100 men's and women's ensembles by a diverse range of designers from the 1940s to the present are featured. Enclosed in scrimmed cases that represent three-dimensional "patches" of a quilt, the outfits are organized into 12 sections that explore defining emotional qualities: Nostalgia, Belonging, Delight, Joy, Wonder, Affinity, Confidence, Strength, Desire, Assurance, Comfort, and Consciousness.

The second and larger section of this exhibit,” In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” will open in the American Wing period rooms on May 5, 2022 and will present sartorial narratives that relate to the complex and layered histories of those rooms.