Andrew Bolton on fashion

Andrew Bolton, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute curator, is using the museum’s new “Costume Art” exhibition to argue that fashion should not be judged only by fine-art rules. (vogue.com) Vogue Runway previewed that argument on April 13, 2026, in a feature tied to the show, quoting Bolton saying, “In a way fashion is beyond art.” The exhibition opens to the public on May 10, 2026. (vogue.com) (metmuseum.org) The show is the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition, and it will pair garments with artworks from across the museum to examine what The Met calls “the centrality of the dressed body.” The museum says the display will include nearly 400 objects and run through January 10, 2027. (metmuseum.org 1) (metmuseum.org 2) That framing marks a shift from older museum arguments that tried to defend fashion by treating clothes mainly as images or sculpture-like objects. Bolton said fashion’s acceptance in museums has often come “on art’s terms,” with too little attention to how garments are worn and lived in. (artnews.com) The Met is backing that argument with prime institutional space. “Costume Art” will inaugurate the nearly 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries next to the Great Hall, moving the Costume Institute into a more central position inside the museum. (metmuseum.org) (artnet.com) Bolton has tied that move to a broader claim about the museum itself. He said fashion is represented in every gallery because depictions of dressed bodies appear across departments, from painting and sculpture to historical objects. (artnet.com) (artnews.com) The Costume Institute already has the attendance numbers to support a larger footprint. “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” drew 1.66 million visitors, which ARTnews said made it the most-visited exhibition in The Met’s history. (artnews.com) The 2026 Met Gala is also being folded into the same thesis. The museum said the May 4 fundraiser will use the dress code “Fashion is Art,” and the gala will precede the exhibition’s public opening by six days. (metmuseum.org) So Bolton’s “beyond art” line is less a stray provocation than the organizing idea for The Met’s next fashion season: clothes as objects people inhabit, not just objects people look at. (vogue.com) (artnews.com)