inside the new galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
THE Metropolitan Museum of Art launches Costume Art this May in New York, opening the new Condé M. Nast galleries with a show that puts fashion in direct dialogue with museumof the wider collection.
designboom watched a preview of it report where architects Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich of Rich Peterson desk were given a tour of their new galleries. Their design frames the performance as a continuous spatial sequence. Here, clothes and artwork share the same platforms, materials and similar points. Rustic plaster plinths extend from the permanent architecture to the display plinths to create a stable ground plane that connects objects across disciplines.
Peterson describes the approach as a way to view the room itself as well as the objects within it. ‘We wanted to highlight the entirety of the space itself, with the exhibition design,‘ explains, noting how the same palette is carried over to pedestals and cases so that paintings, sculptures and clothing are in close visual proximity.
Costume Art, installation view, Metropolitan Museum of Art. image © designboom
an arrangement built around bodies
In its center Costume Art it’s a simple but far-reaching change. Rather than organizing fashion chronologically or by designer, the exhibition moves through a series of body types, tracing how the human figure has been shaped, idealized and interpreted throughout time. THE Metropolitan Museum of Art he draws from his full collection to construct these groupings and pairs garments with works that share formal or conceptual ground.
Categories range from the classic figure to bodies defined by age, pregnancy or physical difference. This structure brings forward forms that have often been pushed aside, placing them in the same field of view as normal representations. It also shifts attention away from writing and towards the body as a constant point of reference across the ages.
The mating strategy works on several levels. Next to an ancient marble athlete appears a modern suit printed with muscular elements. A late nineteenth-century dress is set with a pointillist study of figures in motion. These juxtapositions invite close reading without relying on overt explanation, allowing connections to emerge through proximity and scale.
Costume Art, installation view, Metropolitan Museum of Art. image © designboom
looking across the gallery
The architecture supports this open reading. Clean sweeps divide the galleries into zones while maintaining wide front-to-rear views. ‘We use theatrical creams to subdivide the galleries into these body parts,‘ PRO says co-founder Miriam Peterson. ‘They allow you to see the space from the front and back.As visitors move, different body types are visually overlapped to create a layered field of forms that shift with each step.
This permeability extends to the placement of the sheaths. Nathan Rich explains that each object is given its own opening frame, scaled to encourage an immediate encounter: ‘To create that almost personal relationship with each object, we made these cases in these windows.The case builds on the rhythm of the existing structure, with standing columns guiding how the displays are distributed on the floor.
The order of the rooms reinforces this variation. One gallery rises to a great height, while another is compressed into a lower, more enclosed space. Rich refers to them as “The Cathedral” and “The Crypt,” describing how the shift in ceiling height changes how the garments are approached. In the lower rooms, the distance between viewer and object is reduced, bringing the details of fabric and construction into focus.
Costume Art, installation view, Metropolitan Museum of Art. image © designboom
material, proximity and the clothed body
Throughout Costume Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, attention remains on the physical relationship between clothing and the body. The curatorial approach privileges the presence of material over image, emphasizing texture, weight and construction. Clothes are presented as objects shaped through use and contact, rather than as individual visual forms.
This focus carries over to the mannequins themselves. Designed with polished steel heads, they reflect the surrounding space and the people moving through it. The gesture brings the visitor into the field of view, creating a subtle exchange between historical figures and contemporary actors.
In the lower galleries, this becomes more direct. ‘You see them very close. Face to face,‘ Rich notes, describing how compressed space encourages a sense of closeness. A thematic focus on shared experiences such as aging or physical change reinforces this closeness, grounding exposure to conditions that extend beyond any single period.
Costume Art, installation view, Metropolitan Museum of Art. image © designboom
Costume Art, installation view, Metropolitan Museum of Art. image © designboom
