The Costume Institute At Metropolitan Museum

The Costume Institute houses a collection of more than 30,000 costumes and accessories spanning five continents and as many centuries. Arguably the preeminent institution of its kind in the world, the matrix for The Costume Institute was the Museum of Costume Art, an independent entity formed in 1937.

Led by Neighborhood Playhouse founder Irene Lewisohn, the Museum of Costume Art benefited from gifts from Lewisohn and her sister Alice Lewisohn Crowley, as well as from theatrical designers Aline Bernstein and Lee Simonson, among others.

In 1946, with the financial support of the fashion industry, the Museum of Costume Art merged with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in 1959, The Costume Institute became a department of its own right. The legendary fashion arbiter Diana Vreeland, who served as special consultant from 1972 until her death in 1989, created a memorable suite of costume exhibitions, including "The World of Balenciaga" (1973), "Hollywood Design" (1974), "The Glory of Russian Costume" (1976), and "Vanity Fair" (1977), galvanizing audiences and setting the standard for costume exhibitions both nationally and internationally.

Today, the Costume Institute's Harold Koda (Curator in Charge) and Andrew Bolton (Curator) create two special exhibitions a year, including the spring exhibition and its accompanying gala benefit. Exhibitions in the past two decades have included: "Infra-Apparel" (1993); "Orientalism: Visions of the East in Western Dress" (1994); "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years - Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum" (2001), guest curated by Hamish Bowles, European editor at large of Vogue magazine; and "Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed" (2002), the debut exhibition of Harold Koda.

Among the monographic exhibitions were "Yves Saint Laurent" (1983); "Madame Grès" (1994); "Christian Dior" (1996); "Gianni Versace" (1997); and "Chanel" (2005). More thematic exhibitions have included "Goddess" (2003); "Bravehearts: Men in Skirts" (2003); "WILD: Fashion Untamed" (2004); "Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century" (2004); and "Anglomania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion" (2006). The Costume Institute offers tours of special exhibitions as well as "The Art of Dress," a tour that discusses fashion history within the context of the Museum's permanent collection of armor, textiles, paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts.

Resources

The Costume Institute's 5,000-square-foot galleries were refurbished in 1992. A state-of-the-art conservation laboratory is adjacent to the galleries. A study-storage facility housing the collection is accessible by appointment to designers, design students, and qualified researchers.

The department's Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library is one of the world's foremost fashion libraries. It includes more than 30,000 non-circulating rare books, periodicals and reference books, and extensive files of clippings pertaining to the art of adornment throughout the world. In addition, the library possesses fashion prints, drawings, photographs, sketchbooks and design archives.

In the fall of 2002, the Museum established the Friends of the Costume Institute, a group that supports the department's exhibition, acquisition, conservation, and publication programs. In promoting a more profound historical and theoretical understanding of costume, these initiatives have advanced fashion as an art form and encouraged the study of fashion as a serious academic discipline.

Please check the museum calendar for the special exhibitions schedule, as there is no permanent collection on view due to the fragility of many pieces in the collection. -- www.metmuseum.org