The exhibition features approximately 220 garments and accessories spanning four centuries, all visually connected through themes of nature, which also serves as a metaphor for the transience of fashion. Visitors will be invited to smell the aromatic histories of hats bearing floral motifs; to touch the walls of galleries that will be embossed with the embroidery of select garments; and to experience—via the illusion technique known as Pepper’s ghost—how the “hobble skirt” restricted women’s stride in the early 20th century. Punctuating the galleries will be a series of “sleeping beauties”—garments that can no longer be dressed on mannequins due to their extreme fragility.
Outstanding video of an astonishing Collection
The Costume Institute’s spring 2024 exhibition, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, reactivates the sensory capacities of masterworks in the Museum’s collection through first-hand research, conservation analysis, and diverse technologies—from cutting-edge tools of artificial intelligence and computer-generated imagery to traditional formats of x-rays, video animation, light projection, and soundscapes.
When an item of clothing enters the Costume Institute collection, its status is changed forever. What was once a vital part of a person’s life is now a motionless ‘artwork’ that can no longer be worn or heard, touched, or smelled. This exhibition reanimates these objects, helping us experience them as they were originally intended—with vibrancy, dynamism, and life.
To access the booklet of all large-print exhibition text,click here
CATALOG SLEEPING BEAUTIES. Reawakening Fashion
Publisher: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Author: Andrew Bolton
With contributions by Margherita Barone, Linda Borsch, William DeGregorio, Nick Knight, Stephanie Kramer, Rachel Lackner, Dr. Junpeng Lai, Christopher Mazza, Dr. Ronald Miles, Glenn Petersen, Elizabeth Shaeffer, and Sissel Tolaas.
Photographs by Nick Knight
with additional photographs by Anna-Marie Kellen
Pages: 494 pages
Illustrations: 350
Format: Hardcover
Dimensions: 9” x 12”
ISBN: 9781588397775
Price: $75.00
This vibrant publication brings to life four centuries of extraordinary garments and accessories inspired by the natural world. Offering new ways for understanding and experiencing a garment’s inherent artistry, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion explores clothing’s complex relationship with the body through the senses. Engaging texts by scholars, scientists, and conservators reveal the history behind over 200 works of fashion while also addressing their fragility and ephemerality. Exceptional new photography by Nick Knight of creations by international couturiers and design houses – including Cristòbal Balenciaga, Thom Browne, Collina Strada, Christian Dior, Gucci, Charles James, LOEWE, Madame Grès, Thebe Magugu, Maison Margiela, Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, Paul Poiret, Yves Saint Laurent, Elsa Schiaparelli, Bea Szenfeld, Philip Treacy, Iris van Herpen, Louis Vuitton, and Charles Frederick Worth – further deepens our appreciation for each object’s sensorial integrity.
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