Met Gala 2027 Theme Is 'extraORDINARY,' Replacing Canceled Galliano Show

The Metropolitan Museum of Art named its spring 2027 Costume Institute show "extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday," replacing a canceled John Galliano exhibition. The Met Gala is May 3, 2027; the show runs May 9, 2027, through Jan. 9, 2028.

Nov 05, 2026 - 11:10

0 5

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, that its spring 2027 Costume Institute exhibition, and the Met Gala that opens it, will be devoted to everyday clothing and commonplace materials. The show is titled "extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday," and it replaces a planned exhibition on designer John Galliano that was called off in August.

According to Vogue, the exhibition is organized by Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute's curator in charge, with assistance from Stephanie Kramer and Emily Mushaben. The Met Gala is set for May 3, 2027. The exhibition opens to the public on May 9, 2027, and runs through Jan. 9, 2028.

What the exhibition will cover

Vogue reported that the show will approach its subject from two directions. One part looks at how designers have elevated familiar garments such as T-shirts and jeans. The other examines how humble or even "disposable" materials, from paper to aluminum to plastic, have been turned into clothing. The stated aim, in the museum's words as quoted by Vogue, is to ask visitors "to see the everyday anew."

The galleries are arranged in a sequence, according to Vogue. Pieces from Japanese designer Jun Takahashi's fall 2024 Undercover collection will greet visitors at the entrance. That collection was inspired by Wim Wenders's film Perfect Days. Bolton told Vogue the garments "give the exhibition a real human starting point."

A section called "Familiar Forms" will feature designers' reworkings of common items. Vogue listed Virgil Abloh's Off-White T-shirts, Gianfranco Ferré's white shirts, trench coats from Jonathan Anderson at Loewe and from designers at Burberry, and puffer gowns from Pierpaolo Piccioli's collections for Moncler. A second section, "Common Matter," will focus on throwaway materials and found objects used as garments, with Maison Margiela prominently represented. The exhibition will close with work by Kunihiko Morinaga of the Japanese label Anrealage.

Town & Country, citing The New York Times, reported that the exhibition will include 200 to 230 pieces, about a third of them from the museum's own collection and the rest loaned or donated. Items named in that report include Charles James's 1930s couture puffer coat, pieces from Marc Jacobs's 1990s Perry Ellis grunge collection, a Junya Watanabe leather biker jacket, and Matthieu Blazy's leather trompe l'oeil jeans for Bottega Veneta.

What the curator said

Bolton told Vogue he had not prepared an alternative when the Galliano show fell through. "I didn't have a plan B," he said. "It was really important to come up with an exhibition that wasn't just a masterwork show or something that we could do a little bit more easily. I wanted it to be as challenging and as provocative and as beautiful as a John show would have been."

He added that it was important "to come up with an idea that wasn't a substitute," and that the show "had to have some sort of contemporary resonance." Bolton said his starting point was "Costume Art," the Costume Institute's 2026 exhibition, which he said "placed the dressed body at the center of aesthetic experience."

Bolton also described the questions he wants the show to raise. "It will make us question: what do we overlook, what do we discard, what makes something worth keeping?" he told Vogue. He said that "a paper dress" can demand as much skill and labor as a silk gown, and that reuse and reconstruction run through the exhibition.

The exhibition design is being developed by 1009, a London-based scenographic design studio, according to Vogue. Bolton said he wants "the visitors to be part of the exhibition," and that he likes the idea of museumgoers wearing "their favorite t-shirt or their favorite pair of jeans or their favorite hoodie" as they walk through it.

Why the Galliano show was dropped

The museum had originally planned to devote its spring 2027 exhibition to Galliano. E! News reported that the designer stepped away from the project two months before Thursday's announcement, amid backlash over his past antisemitic comments.

In an Aug. 31 Instagram message quoted by E! News, Galliano wrote: "After much reflection and discussion with The Met and all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time." He added that he remains "fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities."

Sponsors and what comes next

Vogue reported that the exhibition is sponsored by Instagram, with major funding from Moncler and additional support from Condé Nast. Education programs tied to the show are supported by Jordan Roth.

The Met Gala, a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, is traditionally held on the first Monday in May. Town & Country reported that the celebrity co-chairs and the dress code for the 2027 gala have not yet been announced. The 2026 gala's co-chairs included Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams, according to E! News.