“Camp: Notes on Fashion”, this year’s theme for the MET Gala and
accompanying exhibition, has many people scratching their heads. What does
Camp mean? Even Anna
Wintour admitted on a Vogue.com video that the theme “has created a little
bit of confusion”. If you, too, are not sure what to expect from tonight’s
party and the exhibition opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts on
Thursday, here’s all you need to know.
The theme
The theme was inspired by Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on Camp”, a
word meaning “the love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration”.
Think of Louis XIV, Oscar Wilde or, in Sontag’s words, a “woman walking
around in a dress made of 3 million feathers”. To use contemporary
examples, most of Bjork’s and Lady Gaga’s outfits at award shows are camp,
as is pretty much anything contestants wear on RuPaul’s Drag Race. thanks to huge, colorful, carnation-like
organza gowns, is another great example of Camp aesthetics. Expect
tonight’s outfits to be even more over-the-top than in previous editions,
therefore.
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According to the exhibit’s organizers, the theme is more current than
ever as Camp defies conventions and gender norms, it’s about fantasy and nonconformity, “a
refusal to grow up, a question mark that won’t let its line be
straightened into an exclamation point”.
The exhibition
Featuring more than 250 objects dating from the seventeenth century to
the present, including outfits from Moschino, Schiaparelli, Gucci,
Off-White and Jeremy Scott, the exhibition will examine elements of
theatricality, irony, humor, and pastiche in fashion. It will run from May
9 to September 8 at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York City. Here are some of the outfits to be seen in the
museum:
Photo credits 1: Jeremy Scott (American, born 1975) for House of
Moschino (Italian, founded 1983). Ensemble, spring/summer 2018. Courtesy of
Moschino. Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019 – Bertrand Guyon (French, born 1965)
for House of Schiaparelli (French, founded 1927). Ensemble, fall/winter
2018–19 haute couture. Courtesy of Schiaparelli. Photo © Johnny Dufort,
2019 – Jeremy Scott (American, born 1975) for House of Moschino (Italian,
founded 1983). Dress, spring/summer 2017. Courtesy of Moschino. Photo ©
Johnny Dufort, 2019
Photo credits 2: Alessandro Michele (Italian, born 1972) for
Gucci (Italian, founded 1921). Ensemble, fall/winter 2016–17. Courtesy of
Gucci Historical Archive. Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2018 – Virgil Abloh
(American, born 1980) for Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh (Italian, founded
2013). Ensemble, pre-fall 2018. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
Gift of Virgil Abloh c/o Off-White™, 2018 (2018.585a–e). Photo © Johnny
Dufort, 2018 – Alejandro Gómez Palomo (Spanish, born 1992) for Palomo Spain
(Spanish, founded 2015). Wedding ensemble, spring/summer 2018. Courtesy of
Palomo Spain. Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019
Photo credits 3: Jun Takahashi (Japanese, born 1969) for
Undercover (Japanese, founded 1990). Ensemble, fall/winter 2017–18. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of The Costume
Institute Gifts, 2017 (2017.399a–d). Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019 – Marjan
Pejoski (British, born Macedonia, 1968). Dress, fall/winter 2000–2001.
Courtesy of Marjan Pejoski. Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019 – Jeremy Scott
(American, born 1975). Ensemble, spring/summer 2012 menswear. Courtesy of
Jeremy Scott. Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019
Photo credits 4: Left: Walter Van Beirendonck (Belgian, born
1957). Ensemble, spring/summer 2009. Courtesy of Walter Van Beirendonck.
Right: Vivienne Westwood (British, born 1941). Ensemble, fall/winter
1989–90. Courtesy of Vivienne Westwood Archive. Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019
– Franco Moschino (Italian, 1950–1994) for House of Moschino (Italian,
founded 1983). Shirt, spring/summer 1991. Courtesy of Moschino. Photo ©
Johnny Dufort, 2018 – Thom Browne (American, born 1965). Ensembles,
spring/summer 2017. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Thom
Browne, 2018 (2018.134.1a–d [left]) (2018.134.2a–f[right]). Photo © Johnny
Dufort, 2018
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