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The Met's New 'Costume Art' Exhibition Is All About Real Bodies

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled "Costume Art," curated by Andrew Bolton, which aims to collapse the historical hierarchy between fine art and fashion by focusing on the act of dressing and real bodies. The show features nine new mannequin forms representing pregnant, trans, disabled, and larger bodies, largely absent from traditional fashion displays. Models including musician Yseult, Jade O’Belle, Charlie Reynolds, and designer Michaela Stark were 3D-scanned and translated into physical figures by sculptor Frank Benson, with mirrored faces added by Samar Hejazi to reflect viewers. The exhibition also highlights voices and designers outside the European sphere, and the mannequins will become part of the museum's permanent collection.

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Who Are the Custom Mannequins in “Costume Art” Based On? We’re So Glad You Asked

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2025 Costume Institute exhibition, "Costume Art," features 25 mannequins modeled after nine real people with diverse body types and mobilities. Curator Andrew Bolton collaborated with artist Samar Hejazi, who created mirrored faceless heads for the mannequins, and artist Tanda Francis, who modeled features after historical figures like André Grenard Matswa. The mannequins are distributed across two thematic sections: "Disabled Body," featuring individuals such as writer Sinéad Burke, athlete Aimee Mullins, and models Aariana Rose Philip, Antwan Tolliver, and Sonia Vera, along with imagery of the late drag performer Goddess Bunny; and "Corpulent Body," featuring models Jade O'Belle, Charlie Reynolds, artist Michaela Stark, and singer Yseult. The living subjects underwent 3D photogrammetry scanning to recreate their likenesses.

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