Hollywood filmmakers direct new gala costume art exhibition

Hollywood celebrities have traditionally been the focus of the annual Met Gala on the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Regina King and Lynn-Manuel Miranda serving as co-chairs. . But this year, the film industry is also taking to the red carpet and getting involved in the design of the exhibition, where eight directors, including King, will set the tables, blending fashion, historic interiors and each filmmaker’s unique aesthetic.

Opening to the public on May 7, the exhibition “America: Fashion Anthology” was conceived as a companion to “America: Fashion Vocabulary”, which opens in 2021. (Both exhibitions will be shown in September.) “The Dictionary” focuses on more in language and, above all, in modern designers, in the idea of ​​developing a vocabulary around fashion”, explains Andrew Bolton, director of the Museum’s Costume Institute. . The Anthology is more about narrative and historical context, starting with the development of American fashion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the rise of an identified American style and the rise of the designer.

King joins Martin Scorsese, Sophia Coppola, Tom Ford, Chloe Zhao, Janica Bravo, Autumn de Wilde and Julie Desi, each of whom conquered one or more theaters in the American Wing period to create cinematic vignettes representing different eras of fashion. . They range from Scorsese’s concept, a 20th century living room designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, to Zhao’s minimalist style in Shaker’s retirement room circa 1835, to a King tablet in a 19th century Virginia living room. . “We had our stories, our intricate room stories and the costumes we wanted to put in them, and so we gave directors the right to reimagine those elements,” Bolton said. (This year’s Met Gala guests were invited to wear a “glamorous white gold-plated tie”.)

Bravo Vinette, in the Rococo Renaissance room circa 1850, examines the clothes of Margarita Bolhagen and Elizabeth House, both American designers who were successful in the mid-20th century, though not as well-known as Claire McCardell or Bill. Blas (also appearing on the show).

“I was going back to my roots and using space and space first and foremost to create a vivacious diorama or tablet,” said Bravo, director of the 2021 launch. Range. “He wanted to see me in these rooms. I needed that. I am both absurd and lonely.”

Shaw Bolton adds: “The end result is very different from what the curators themselves would have done. “Seen through the eyes of these particular directors, what was created is a very personal and intimate feeling, and at the same time, the history of American fashion tells us in a completely unique way.”

The story first appeared in the April 27 issue of The Gossipify. Click here to subscribe.