Met Gala Sets 2027 Theme on Everyday Fashion
The Costume Institute will focus on common clothing like jeans and T-shirts after dropping a planned John Galliano retrospective.
By Zoe Harrison ·
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has selected a new theme for next year’s Met Gala.
Vogue and the museum announced Thursday that the 2027 exhibition will be called extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday. The event is scheduled for the first Monday in May 2027. Anna Wintour, the chief content officer at Condé Nast, will chair the gala again. The event serves as a primary fundraiser for the Costume Institute.
The new direction replaces a controversial plan. In late July, the museum proposed an exhibition titled John Galliano: Horizons. The show faced public criticism due to the designer’s history of antisemitic remarks. In August, the museum decided not to proceed with that specific display. Officials stated they would announce a replacement theme at a later date.
The original controversy stemmed from Galliano’s 2011 legal history. A French court found him guilty of antisemitic behavior that year. He received a suspended fine of $8,400 for verbally abusing an English language teacher and two others at a Paris restaurant. Galliano was fired as creative director of Christian Dior in 2011. His lawyer described the court’s leniency as a relief, noting the designer avoided prison time.
At the time of the 2011 verdict, Galliano’s lawyer said the designer was looking forward to a future of forgiveness and understanding. When the museum canceled the exhibit in August, Galliano issued his own statement. He acknowledged that meaningful atonement is a continuing responsibility rather than a single public gesture. He stated he did not want the debate to place the museum in a difficult position or distract from the Costume Institute’s work.
The new 2027 exhibition will focus on seemingly unremarkable clothing items. The museum says the show will feature T-shirts, jeans, and puffer jackets that can inspire delight and wonder. Andrew Bolton, curator of The Costume Institute, explained that ordinary items often hold traces of a person’s life. He noted that designers reveal unexpected possibilities within forms and materials that appear familiar to the public.
