Art Review The exhibition shapes a fashion canon based less on historical relevance than on the interests of those in charge.

October 21, 2026 — 6 min read

Left to right: Yves Saint Laurent, “‘Irises’ ensemble” (spring/summer 1988); Vincent van Gogh, “Irises” (1890); Loewe by Jonathan Anderson, “Ensemble” (spring/summer 2025) (all photos Natalie Haddad/ Hyperallergic )

For an exhibition with such a simple title, Costume Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is awfully confusing. It’s also fairly problematic, but let’s start with the confusing parts. The show pairs garments and art objects to accomplish the radical task of “reveal[ing] the inherent relationship between clothing and the body,” as the website concisely explains. The artworks are meant to demonstrate the clothed body’s presence across The Met’s collection, evidently establishing the Costume Institute as the museum’s beating heart.

So clothing and the body are related, a fact to which The Met’s artworks attest.…