'in america: an anthology of fashion' and the theme of the MET gala 2022

American Fashion within its HISTORICAL context

The Met Gala 2022 is back for the second of a two-part presentation of American fashion, this time under the theme of ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion.’ Last year, the ‘Lexicon of Fashion’ theme was an ‘expansive’ exploration of fashion in the U.S. (see designboom’s coverage here) which established the historical foundations of American style.

Now open to the public, the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s Costume Institute and American Wing translates this ‘lexicon’ into an ‘anthology,’ or a collection of pieces displayed within their historical contexts. The presentation is staged across thirteen of the American period rooms to immerse viewers within the atmosphere of another era — as far back as America’s Gilded Age, 150 years ago.

wedding gown on view at ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ | image by Sarah Yenesel/EPA

the unsung heroes behind america’s style

The Met (see here) presents its 2022 exhibition ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ as a celebration of the ‘overlooked backbone’ of American style. The show curates a series of stories which explore the evolution of the nation’s fashion. This includes the work of the anonymous tailors, dressmakers, and designers across time, whose names have largely been lost.

Those names which are displayed as part of the exhibition might be familiar to those in the industry, while others will likely be unknown, having been relegated to the footnotes of history.

The list of known and forgotten designers and dressmakers includes Bill Blass, Marguery Bolhagen, Brooks Brothers, Stephen Burrows, Fannie Criss Payne, Josephine H. Egan, Franziska Noll Gross, Anne Klein, and Native American designer Lloyd Kiva New.

ball gown designed by Marguery Bolhagen, ca. 1961 | image © Metropolitan Museum of Art

from america’s gilded age to the mid 20th century

Eight film directors from the Met brought the exhibition ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ to life by creating vignettes to accompany the theme of each period room. Showcasing a period’s original furniture, lighting, and ornament, these rooms are an immersive, historically contextual backdrop for the fashion of the era.

Martin Scorsese takes on a 20th-century living room designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; Janicza Bravo is coupled with the Rococo Revival Parlor and Gothic Revival Library; Sofia Coppola transforms the McKim, Mead and White Stair Hall, along with the Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room; Julie Dash is in the Greek Revival Parlor and Renaissance Revival Room; Tom Ford designed the vignette in the gallery which showcases John Vanderlyn’s 1819 mural of Versailles; Regina King is in the 19th-century parlor from Richmond, Virginia; Autumn de Wilde is paired with the Baltimore and Benkard Rooms; and Chloé Zhao will create a work based on a Shaker Retiring Room from the 1830s.

Martin Scorsese, living room by Frank Lloyd Wright | Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Anna-Marie Kellen
see all the period rooms as vignettes in the gallery below

gilded glamour: the met gala 2022

While ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ celebrates the anonymous, ‘unsung heroes’ behind American fashion throughout the ages, the dress code for the MET gala called for ‘gilded glamour.’