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After John Galliano bowed out of the 2027 Met Gala, leading to the cancellation of an accompanying Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition also honoring the work of the controversial French designer, the star-studded May event has revealed its new, seemingly safer theme, extraORDINARY: fashion and the poetics of the everyday, which will also be the subject of the accompanying exhibition at the museum’s Costume Institute.
The spring 2027 extraORDINARY exhibit will be center on fashion and art more broadly, taking in more everyday wear as opposed to focusing on one celebrated designer and their fantastical costumes.
“It will come at its subject from two directions, one focusing on the elevation of archetypal garments, i.e. the above-mentioned tees and jeans, and the other examining how humble, even ‘disposable’ materials, from paper to aluminum to plastic, are transformed into wearable art,” the organizers of the exhibition told Vogue in an article published online Thursday.
Andrew Bolton, curator of The Met’s Costume Institute, deliberately chose against substituting one master designer for another after a media storm when Galliano was announced as the subject of the upcoming exhibit and gala.
“I didn’t have a plan B,” Bolton told Vogue. “It was really important to come up with an exhibition that wasn’t just a masterwork show or something that we could do a little bit more easily. I wanted it to be as challenging and as provocative and as beautiful as a John show would have been. That was really important to me: to come up with an idea that wasn’t a substitute. And it had to have some sort of contemporary resonance.”
In August, Galliano bowed out of the Met Gala after his past remarks, including an antisemitic rant, became a cultural flashpoint. “After much reflection and discussion with all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano said in an Instagram post.
The Met then revealed it wouldn’t be proceeding with the Galliano exhibit “following thoughtful discussions” with the designer, according to Met director and CEO Max Hollein.
The abandoned John Galliano: Horizons exhibit was overseen by Anna Wintour, Vogue’s global editorial director, who also serves as a Met trustee.
The revamped exhibition will still draw on the Met’s extensive collection of fashion pieces and will serve as the centerpiece for the annual Met Gala, an event attended by the most elite of the A-list, with one of the most coveted invites.
The exhibition, to follow the star-driven Met Gala on May 3, 2027, will open to the public on May 9 and run through to Jan. 2028.
English (US) ·