For 2021, the Met Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit is highlighting American fashion featuring its first-ever two-part show.

The first exhibition, opening on 18 September 2021, carries the theme “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”. As usual, the event is headlined by the high-profile Met Gala on 13 September. The second part, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” opens on May 5, 2022 and will present sartorial narratives that relate to the complex and layered histories of those rooms.

“[In America: A Lexicon of Fashion] establishes a modern vocabulary of American fashion based on its expressive qualities. Smaller in scale than Part Two, this portion of the exhibition uses the organizing principle of a patchwork quilt. A signature quilt begun in 1856 from The Met’s American Wing collection opens the show, and serves as a metaphor for the United States and its varied cultural identities.

Approximately 100 men’s and women’s ensembles by a diverse range of designers from the 1940s to the present are featured. Enclosed in scrimmed cases that represent three-dimensional “patches” of a quilt, they are organized into 12 sections that explore defining emotional qualities: Nostalgia, Belonging, Delight, Joy, Wonder, Affinity, Confidence, Strength, Desire, Assurance, Comfort, and Consciousness.”

Part One: September 18, 2021–September 5, 2022
The Met Fifth Avenue, Anna Wintour Costume Center

Part Two: May 5, 2022–September 5, 2022
The Met Fifth Avenue, American Wing Period Rooms (Part Two)