the costume institute’s much-anticipated annual exhibition at the metropolitan museum of art in new york is set to open to the public. titled ‘about time: fashion and duration’, the show opens on october 29, 2020 and remains on view until february 7, 2021. with an exhibition design by es devlin, the presentation traces 150 years of fashion, from 1870 to the present, along a disrupted timeline. employing philosopher henri bergson’s concept of la durée — the continuity of time — the exhibition explores how clothes generate temporal associations that conflate the past, present, and future. the concept is also examined through the writings of virginia woolf, who serves as the exhibition’s ‘ghost narrator’.
all images and video © the metropolitan museum of art
presented in the met fifth avenue’s iris and b. gerald cantor exhibition hall, the exhibition features a timeline of 125 fashions dating from 1870 — the year of the met’s founding and the start of a decade that witnessed major developments in the global standardization of time — to the present. the majority of objects on view are drawn from the costume institute’s collection, including major gifts from designers as part of the met’s 2020 collections initiative, and related to the museum’s 150th anniversary activities.
the timeline unfolds in two adjacent galleries fabricated as enormous clock faces and organized around the principle of 60 minutes of fashion. each ‘minute’ features a pair of garments, with the primary work representing the linear nature of fashion and the secondary work its cyclical character. to illustrate bergson’s concept of duration — of the past co-existing with the present — the works in each pair are connected through shape, motif, material, pattern, technique, or decoration. for example, a black silk faille princess- line dress from the late 1870s is paired with an alexander mcqueen ‘bumster’ skirt from 1995.
left: ‘bar’ suit, christian dior (french, 1905– 1957), jacket, spring/summer 1947; gift of mrs. john chambers hughes, 1958 (c.i.58.34.30). skirt, spring/summer 1947, edition 1969; gift of christian dior, 1969 (c.i.69.40). right: ensemble, junya watanabe (japanese, born 1961), fall/winter 2011–2012; courtesy junya watanabe comme des garçons
all garments are black to emphasize changes in silhouette, except at the conclusion of the show, where a white dress from viktor & rolf’s spring/summer 2020 haute couture collection — made from upcycled swatches in a patchwork design — serves as a symbol for the future of fashion with its emphasis on community, collaboration, and sustainability. ‘about time: fashion and duration considers the ephemeral nature of fashion, employing flashbacks and fast-forwards to reveal how it can be both linear and cyclical,’ says max hollein, director of the met. ‘the result is a show that presents a nuanced continuum of fashion over the museum’s 150-year history.’
‘fashion is indelibly connected to time,’ adds andrew bolton, the wendy yu curator in charge of the costume institute. ‘it not only reflects and represents the spirit of the times, but it also changes and develops with the times, serving as an especially sensitive and accurate timepiece. through a series of chronologies, the exhibition uses the concept of duration to analyze the temporal twists and turns of fashion history.’

per government regulations, timed tickets are required for entrance to the museum, and are available online. the 2020 costume institute benefit, also known as ‘the met gala’, will not take place this year due to the global health crisis. see other projects relating to the met on designboom here.
left: dress, iris van herpen (dutch, born 1984), fall/winter 2012–13 haute couture; gift of iris van herpen, in honor of harold koda, 2016 (2016.185). right: ball gown, charles james (american, born great britain, 1906–1978), 1951; brooklyn museum costume collection at the metropolitan museum of art, gift of the brooklyn museum, 2009; gift of mr. and mrs. robert coulson, 1964 (2009.300.1311)
dress, viktor & rolf (dutch, founded 1993), spring/summer 2020 haute couture; courtesy viktor + rolf. headpiece by shay ashual in collaboration with yevgeny koramblyum
the exhibition remains on view until february 7, 2021
a conversation between andrew bolton and es devlin that reveals the design inspiration behind the exhibit

12a. timeline
afternoon dress, american, ca. 1877; gift of theodore fischer ells, 1975 (1975.227.4)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

12b. interruption
'bumster' skirt, alexander mcqueen (british, 1969–2010), fall/winter 1995–96, edition 2010; courtesy alexander mcqueen
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

13a. timeline
dinner dress, mrs. arnold (american), ca. 1895; brooklyn museum costume collection at the metropolitan museum of art, gift of the brooklyn museum, 2009; gift of sally ingalls, 1932 (2009.300.643a, b)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

13b. interruption
ensemble, comme des garçons (japanese, founded 1969), fall/winter 2004–5; gift of comme des garçons, 2020
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

14a. timeline
riding jacket, morin blossier (french), 1902; gift of miss irene lewisohn, 1937 (C.I.37.44.3a).
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

14b. interruption
ensemble, nicolas ghesquière (french, born 1971) for louis vuitton (french, founded 1854), spring/summer 2018; courtesy collection louis vuitton
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

15a. timeline
evening dress, probably american, ca. 1928; gift of richard martin and harold koda, 1992 (1992.399a, b).
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

15b. interruption
dress, john galliano (british, born gibraltar, 1960), spring/summer 1997, edition 2008; gift of john galliano, 2012 (2012.122)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

16a. timeline
evening jacket, elsa schiaparelli (italian, 1890–1973), winter 1938–39; gift of mrs. pauline potter, 1950 (C.I.50.34.2).
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

16b. interruption
'broken mirrors' ensemble, yves saint laurent (french, born algeria, 1936–2008), fall/winter 1978–79 haute couture; courtesy musée yves saint laurent paris © yves saint laurent
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

17a. timeline
'bar' suit, christian dior (french, 1905–1957), jacket, spring/summer 1947; gift of mrs. john chambers hughes, 1958 (C.I.58.34.30). skirt, spring/summer 1947, edition 1969; gift of christian dior, 1969 (C.I.69.40).
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

17b. interruption
ensemble, junya watanabe (japanese, born 1961), fall/winter 2011–2012; courtesy junya watanabe comme des garçons
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

18a. timeline
dress, cristóbal balenciaga (spanish, 1895–1972), fall/winter 1958–59 haute couture; gift of rosamond bernier, 1973 (1973.58.1a, b).
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

18b. interruption
dress, nicolas ghesquière (french, born 1971) for louis vuitton (french, founded 1854), spring/summer 2018; courtesy collection louis vuitton
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

19a. timeline
suit, gabrielle chanel (french, 1883–1971), spring/summer 1963 haute couture; brooklyn museum costume collection at the metropolitan museum of art, gift of the brooklyn museum, 2009; gift of jane holzer, 1977 (2009.300.525a–e)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

19b. interruption
suit, karl lagerfeld (french, born germany, 1933–2019) for chanel (french, founded 1913), spring/summer 1994; courtesy collection du patrimoine de chanel, paris
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

20a. timeline
dress, rudi gernreich (american, born austria, 1922–1985), fall/winter 1968–69; purchase, funds from various donors, isabel shults fund, and millia davenport and zipporah fleisher fund, 2005 (2005.261)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

20b. interruption
dress, azzedine alaïa (french, born tunisia, 1935–2017), spring/summer 2003 haute couture; courtesy alaïa
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

21a. timeline
dress, jean paul gaultier (french, born 1952), fall/winter 1984– 85; purchase, friends of the costume institute gifts, 2010 (2010.155a–c)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

21b. interruption
'tulip' evening dress, charles james (american, born great britain, 1906–1978), 1949; gift of elizabeth de cuevas, 2015 (2015.552)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

22a. timeline
'flying saucer' dress, issey miyake (japanese, born 1938), spring/summer 1994; courtesy issey miyake
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope

22b. interruption
'delphos' dress, mariano fortuny y madrazo (spanish, 1871– 1949), ca. 1930; promised gift of sandy schreier (L.2018.61.29a, c)
image courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art, photo © nicholas alan cope
exhibition info:
name: about time: fashion and duration
location: the metropolitan museum of art, fifth avenue, new york
dates: october 29, 2020 – february 7, 2021
organized by: andrew bolton with support from amanda garfinkel, assistant curator, and jan reeder, curatorial consultant
exhibition design: es devlin with the met’s design department
ES DEVLIN (5)
EXHIBITION DESIGN (59)
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (18)
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