The 2027 Met Gala's accompanying exhibition has prompted criticism over its focus on everyday clothing, following the cancellation of a planned retrospective honouring designer John Galliano amid backlash over his history of antisemitic and racist remarks.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday on Thursday, 5 November 2026. The Costume Institute exhibition will examine garments such as blue jeans, white T-shirts, and puffer coats, alongside designs made from unconventional materials.
The exhibition is not a dress code for the Met Gala, scheduled for 3 May 2027. The museum had not announced a separate dress code or the event's co-chairs in its announcement.
Galliano Retrospective Cancelled Following Backlash
The original exhibition, John Galliano: Horizons, was cancelled in a joint decision announced by Galliano and the museum on 31 August 2026. Galliano said he had decided it was best for the exhibition not to take place at that time.
The proposed retrospective had faced objections over the designer's past remarks. Christian Dior dismissed Galliano in 2011 after footage emerged of him making antisemitic comments. A French court later found him guilty of public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race, or ethnicity.
Critics also objected to the proposed gala date of 3 May 2027, which coincides with the beginning of Yom HaShoah, Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day. Galliano acknowledged the pain caused by his words, including to Jewish and Asian communities, and recognised that an exhibition honouring his work would be painful for some people.
The replacement exhibition opens on 9 May 2027, six days after the gala, and runs until 9 January 2028.
Blue Jeans and Puffer Coats Prompt Criticism
The exhibition will consider fashion from familiar forms including jeans, T-shirts, hoodies, trench coats, biker jackets, and puffer coats, as well as clothing made with paper, plastic and metal.
In a commentary published by The Independent on 6 November, Ellie Muir criticised the choice in an article headlined 'The Met Gala's new theme is blue jeans and puffer coats. What a let down.' Her criticism focused on the contrast between ordinary wardrobe pieces and the elaborate outfits associated with the gala's red carpet.
'If you ask me, this theme is artfully mundane at best, and boring at worst,' she wrote in the article. 'I don't know how excited I can get over a pair of jeans, even if they were worn in a famous commercial.'
Designers, Curators and Funding Confirmed
The exhibition is divided into sections titled 'Familiar Forms' and 'Common Matter,' exploring changes to recognisable garments and the use of ordinary or unexpected materials in fashion design.
Featured designers include Rei Kawakubo, Martin Margiela, Junya Watanabe, Jonathan Anderson, Matthieu Blazy, Marc Jacobs, Jun Takahashi, and Kunihiko Morinaga. Its closing displays feature Morinaga's Anrealage designs, which explore shapes including cubes, spheres and pyramids.
Among the works are Blazy's 2022–23 leather jeans for Bottega Veneta and a flannel shirt designed by Jacobs for Perry Ellis in 1993. The exhibition opens with garments from Takahashi's Undercover autumn/winter 2024–25 collection, Watching a Working Woman, partly inspired by Wim Wenders's 2023 film Perfect Days.
Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of the Costume Institute, is organising the exhibition with assistance from senior research associate Stephanie Kramer and research associate Emily Mushaben. Instagram is making the exhibition and gala possible, with major funding from Moncler and additional support from Condé Nast. Jordan Roth is funding associated educational programmes.
The Met Gala provides the Costume Institute's primary annual funding for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and operations, with proceeds also supporting other museum activities.
