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Tim Marlow's Must-See Museum Shows

Camp: Notes on Fashion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

9 May–8 September | New York

Camp: Notes on Fashion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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I nspired by American writer and activist Susan Sontag’s pivotal essay, "Notes on 'Camp’", the show will examine the evolution and impact of the camp aesthetic since the 1960’s, and consider its expressions through fashion, touching upon themes of subculture, identity and self-expression.

Ensemble, Bertrand Guyon for House of Schiaparelli, fall/winter 2018–19 haute couture. Courtesy Schiaparelli. Image courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph © Johnny Dufort, 2019

Visitors can expect to see some of the most extravagant and wildly imaginative creations ever to grace the catwalk from some of the fashion world’s most celebrated designers. Featuring approximately 175 objects, including womenswear and menswear, as well as sculptures, paintings, and drawings, from the 17th century to the present, the exhibition will explore the origins of ‘camp’ and focus on how it has sashayed from the suppressive shadows of the past into the bright, technicolour future of the 21st century.

Coat, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, fall/winter 1988–89. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph © Johnny Dufort, 2018.
Shirt, Franco Moschino for House of Moschino, spring/summer 1991. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph © Johnny Dufort, 2018.
Ensembles, Marc Jacobs, spring/summer 2016. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph © Johnny Dufort, 2018.

This is set to be one of the most compelling, humorous and outright fabulous fashion exhibitions ever staged, and certain to be one of the most significant.

Camp: Notes on Fashion will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 9 May–8 September.

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