The Met's next Costume Institute show turns jeans and puffer coats into art, replacing the canceled Galliano exhibit

After a summer scandal sank its planned John Galliano retrospective, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has picked a theme for its 2027 fashion blockbuster that could hardly be more down to earth: the clothes and materials people use every day.

The Costume Institute's spring 2027 exhibition, "extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday," will run May 9, 2027, through Jan. 9, 2028, at The Met Fifth Avenue, the museum announced Nov. 5. The Met Gala, the institute's main fundraiser, is set for Monday, May 3, 2027.

What the show is about

Drawing on the Costume Institute's collection plus loans and new acquisitions, the exhibition will look at how designers transform familiar garments and commonplace materials, from jeans, T-shirts and puffer coats to paper, plastic and metal, through craft, construction, experimentation and wit, the Met said. It will also consider how wearing, styling and caring for clothes shapes what they mean over time.

The first gallery will feature pieces from Jun Takahashi's autumn/winter 2024–25 collection for Undercover, "Watching a Working Woman," which was inspired in part by Wim Wenders's 2023 film "Perfect Days." Its runway show was accompanied by a poem Wenders wrote and read about a working mother's daily life, according to the museum.

Curator in charge Andrew Bolton is organizing the show. In the Met's announcement he said "the ordinary is never quite as simple as it appears." The museum frames it as a continuation of the current Costume Institute exhibition, "Costume Art," which centers the dressed body.

Why the theme changed

The Met had announced a Galliano retrospective in late July, promising to address the British designer's past "derogatory conduct." About a month later, the museum and Galliano canceled it amid pressure from donors, city officials and the Jewish community over his past antisemitic statements, NBC New York reported. Bolton said in an interview that he had "no Plan B" and had to build the replacement from scratch, NBC reported; the idea had first come to him while working on "Costume Art."

Key dates and how to see it

• Met Gala: Monday, May 3, 2027. Hosts and the dress code will be announced later.
• Member previews: May 4, 6, 7 and 8, 2027.
• Public run: May 9, 2027–Jan. 9, 2028, in Gallery 099 at The Met Fifth Avenue, free with museum admission.
• Sponsors: The exhibition and gala are made possible by Instagram, with major funding from Moncler and additional support from Condé Nast, the Met said.