The Metropolitan Museum of Art : The Costume Institute
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....continue reading...
Exploring 'The Garden of Time'
The book that inspired 2024's Met Gala theme
This year's dress code for the Met Gala is based on The Garden of Time, a 1962 short story by J.G. Ballard, an English novelist, satirist and essayist known for his provocative works that test the relationship between human psychology and mass media.
The Garden of Time is about the good-looking, sophisticated Count Axel and his wife, who live in a beautiful villa full of rare books, fine paintings, busts and vases. They live a decadent life on their beautiful estate, which includes an exquisite pool and garden. But outside the walls, the landscape is empty as far as the eye can see – until an unruly rabble appears in the distance. Each time Count Axel cuts a flower from his garden, however, time spools back, and the brutish mass recedes behind the hills.
But a long time has passed since plants last bloomed, and the Count is reduced to cutting the very last of his flowers to hold back the mob. When their garden is bare, he and his wife carefully put away their books, their music and all the treasures of their civilised life, preparing for it to come to an abrupt end.
Access the printed text of the Exhibition
Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion here.