The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced that the Costume Institute’s spring 2023 exhibition will examine the work of Karl Lagerfeld (1933-2019).

Focusing on the designer’s stylistic vocabulary as expressed through lines, aesthetic themes that appear again and again, in his fashions from the 1950s through his final collection in 2019, the show will highlight the German-born designer’s unique working methodology.

Most of the approximately 150 pieces on display will be accompanied by Lagerfeld’s sketches, which highlight his complex creative process and collaborative relationships with his premieres. Presented at The Met Fifth Avenue at the Tisch Gallery, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty will be on view from May 5 through July 16, 2023.

To celebrate the opening of the show, The Costume Institute Benefit (also known as The Met Gala®) will take place on Monday, May 1, 2023.

The benefit provides The Costume Institute with its main source of annual funding for exhibitions, publications and acquisitions. operations and capital improvements. Co-chairs and additional details of the event will be announced in the coming months.

The exhibition and benefit for The Costume Institute are made possible by CHANEL.

FENDI provides important support.

Additional funding provided by KARL LAGERFELD and Condé Nast.

Karl Lagerfeld was one of the most captivating, prolific and recognizable forces in fashion and culture, known as much for his extraordinary designs and tireless creative output as for his legendary personality. This immersive exhibition will reveal his unique artistic practice, inviting the public to experience an essential part of Lagerfeld’s boundless imagination and passion for innovation.

Max Hollein, French director of The Met’s Marina Kellen.

The exhibition will explore Lagerfeld’s complex working methodology, tracing the evolution of his fashions from two dimensions to three dimensions. The fluid lines of his sketches found expression in recurring aesthetic themes in his fashion, uniting his designs for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel and his namesake brand, Karl Lagerfeld, creating a diverse and prolific body of work unprecedented in history. of fashion.

Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of Wendy Yu, The Costume Institute.

Summary of the exhibition
Based on the theory of art and aesthetics expressed by William Hogarth as the “line of beauty”, the exhibition is anchored on two lines: the “straight line” and the “serpentine line”, which delineate, respectively, modernism and Lagerfeld’s style. historicist tendencies. These lines explore different stylistic representations of themes that the designer returned to again and again, extending in a rhizome-like configuration with moments of intersection, or “explosions,” that exemplify points of convergence. The exhibition will conclude with the “satirical line,” a section that focuses on Lagerfeld’s ironic, playful and whimsical predilections expressed through visual puns that reflect the designer’s sharp wit.

Approximately 150 garments will be on display, spanning the designer’s career as creative director of Chloé, Fendi, Chanel and his namesake brand, Karl Lagerfeld, as well as his time at Balmain and Patou.

Credits
The exhibition is organized by Andrew Bolton with the support of Mellissa Huber, associate curator. Amanda Harlech will act as creative consultant for the exhibition. Renowned architect Tadao Ando will design the exhibition, which the Met’s Department of Design will hold in the Museum’s Tisch Galleries. In addition, film director Loïc Prigent will produce original video content for the exhibition.

Exhibition dates: May 5 to July 16, 2023
Member Preview Dates: May 2 and 4, 2023
Exhibit Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, The Tisch Galleries, Gallery 899, Floor 2