Heavenly Couture: The Met Gala's Holy theme for 2018

Left: El Greco, Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara, circa 1600. Right: Cristobal Balenciaga evening coat, fall 1954–55. CreditMetropolitan Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum/digital composite by Katerina Jebb

Left: Fragment of a Floor Mosaic with a Personification of Ktisis, Byzantine, 500-550, with modern restoration, marble and glass. Right: Ensemble, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana for Dolce & Gabbana, fall 2013–14. CreditMetropolitan Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art/digital composite by Katerina Jebb

Left: Manuscript leaf with scenes from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, circa 1320-42. Right: Madame Grès evening dress, 1969. CreditMetropolitan Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art/digital composite by Katerina Jebb

Left: Byzantine processional cross, ca. 1000-1050. Right: Gianni Versace evening dress, fall 1997–98.CreditMetropolitan Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art/digital composite by Katerina Jebb

Left: Follower of Lippo Memmi, Saint Peter, mid–14th-century. Right: Elsa Schiaparelli evening dress, summer 1939. CreditMetropolitan Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art/digital composite by Katerina Jebb

For many, Vogue Magazine is a fashion bible so it seems only fitting that The Metropolitan Museum of Art's next big Costume Institute exhibit is titled, "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination."  While it may seem controversial for The Met to take on Catholicism, the theme has more to do with fashion design's interpretation of religion and its use of religious iconography within the world of style and couture.

Andrew Bolton, curator of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who has worked closely with the Vatican on the exhibit had this to say about it: "The focus is on a shared hypothesis about what we call the Catholic imagination and the way it has engaged artists and designers and shaped their approach to creativity, as opposed to any kind of theology or sociology. Beauty has often been a bridge between believers and unbelievers.”

Mr. Bolton traveled to Rome eight times before the Vatican "signed off" on the exhibit. The Sistine Chapel sacristy Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff gave the "blessing" for this show to occur. They were receptive to the idea from the start but needed to be cautious and respectful of the Vatican garments that would be on loan to The Met, especially since some of the pieces are still in use by the Pope.

Along with Anna Wintour, Mr. and Mrs. Schwarzman, Donatella Versace, Amal Clooney and Rihanna will be the honorary chairs opening night of the Met Gala.

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Met Gala announces 2017 theme: Comme des Garçons’s Rei Kawakubo

“Rei Kawakubo is one of the most important and influential designers of the past forty years,” said the Costume Institute’s curator in charge, Andrew Bolton. “By inviting us to rethink fashion as a site of constant creation, recreation, and hybridity, she has defined the aesthetics of our time.”

This is not only exciting but big, big news since Rei Kawakubo will be the first living designer to serve as the theme and inspiration of the Met Gala since Yves Saint Laurent. 

Vogue's Met Gala is fashion's biggest soiree bringing out an elite guest list of fashion designers and celebrities. Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams will cochair the event along with Anna Wintour of course. The Met Gala will take place on May 1, 2017. 

The Costume Institute exhibit will feature 120 looks from Comme des Garçons/Rei Kawakubo.

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