Confirmed: The 2019 Met Gala Exhibit Will Be Lots of Fun

A couture dress from Viktor & Rolf. Photo: FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images

It’s late February, which means fashion month is three-quarters over and it’s time to start thinking about the next big thing in fashion — the Met Gala, coming up the first Monday in May. We suspected it might be more light-hearted than in years past because of the theme. It’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” a play on Susan Sontag’s essay “Notes on Camp.” The exhibit will be sponsored by Gucci (a solid contender for the campiest modern house) and will trace the origins of camp. As Sontag put it in her essay, camp “sees everything in quotation marks.” It may be kitschy or deliberately corny, but always with a raised eyebrow. A beautiful example: Moschino’s TV dinner ensemble from its show in Milan yesterday.

Yesterday, Anna Wintour and curator Andrew Bolton held a press conference in Milan. Andy Warhol’s screen test of Sontag played in the background, but most importantly, we now have some idea of what will be on display at the Met Gala. For one, those Viktor & Rolf couture meme dresses will be there. Many Jeremy Scott designs will be on display (no surprise) alongside Virgil Abloh’s “Little Black Dress,” a Schiaperelli flamingo hat, and Bjork’s famous Oscars dress. The Met Gala and attendant Costume Institute show are known for being many things — like wildly popular and thought-provoking — but this one looks different. It looks like fun.

“Camp: Notes on Fashion” will be on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 9–September 8, 2019.

Clockwise from top left: Jeremy Scott for House of Moschino, spring/summer 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Bertrand Guyon for House of Schiaparelli, fall/winter 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Alessandro Michele for Gucci, fall/winter 2016 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Jeremy Scott for House of Moschino, spring/summer 2017 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019

Clockwise from top left: Jeremy Scott for House of Moschino, spring/summer 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnn... more Clockwise from top left: Jeremy Scott for House of Moschino, spring/summer 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Bertrand Guyon for House of Schiaparelli, fall/winter 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Alessandro Michele for Gucci, fall/winter 2016 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Jeremy Scott for House of Moschino, spring/summer 2017 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019

Clockwise from left: Virgil Abloh for Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh, pre-fall 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Alejandro Gómez Palomo for Palomo Spain, spring/summer 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Jun Takahashi for Undercover, fall/winter 2017 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019

Clockwise from left: Virgil Abloh for Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh, pre-fall 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnn... more Clockwise from left: Virgil Abloh for Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh, pre-fall 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Jun Takahashi for Undercover, fall/winter 2017 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019Alejandro Gómez Palomo for Palomo Spain, spring/summer 2018 Photo: Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Johnny Dufort, 2019