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Metropolitan Museum of Art announce Charles James Exhibition and New Costume Institute Galleries

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced that the inaugural exhibition of the newly renovated Costume Institute in spring 2014 will examine the career of legendary 20th-century Anglo-American couturier Charles James (1906–1978). Charles James: Beyond Fashion, on view from May 8 through August 10, 2014 (preceded on May 5 by The Costume Institute Benefit), will be presented in two locations–The Costume Institute’s new galleries as well as special exhibitions galleries on the Museum’s first floor.

Charles James Ball Gowns, 1948. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Cecil Beaton, Beaton /Vogue / Condé Nast Archive. Copyright © Condé Nast
Charles James Ball Gowns, 1948. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Cecil Beaton, Beaton /Vogue / Condé Nast Archive. Copyright © Condé Nast

The exhibition will explore James’s design process and his use of sculptural, scientific, and mathematical approaches to construct revolutionary ball gowns and innovative tailoring that continue to influence designers today.

In celebration of The New Costume Institute and the exhibition, the Museum’s Costume Institute Benefit will take place on Monday, May 5, 2014. The evening’s Chair will be Aerin Lauder. Co-Chairs will be Bradley Cooper, Oscar de la Renta, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, and Anna Wintour. The décor for the 2014 Benefit will be produced by Raul Avila for the eighth consecutive year. This event is The Costume Institute’s main source of annual funding for exhibitions, acquisitions, and capital improvements.

The retrospective exhibition, Charles James: Beyond Fashion, will feature approximately 100 of the most notable designs produced by James over the course of his career, from 1929 until his death in 1978. The first-floor special exhibition galleries will spotlight the glamour and resplendent architecture of James’s ball gowns from the 1930s through 1950s with an elegant tableau celebrating such renowned clients of his as Austine Hearst, Millicent Rogers, and Dominique de Menil.

May 2014 will mark the grand reopening of The Costume Institute space after an overall two-year renovation, reconfiguration, and updating. The 4,200-square-foot Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery will represent a fundamental change in the Museum’s approach to its costume collection, including a flexible design that lends itself to frequent transformation, a zonal sound system, innovative projection technology, wireless connectivity, and exhibitions on view 10 months a year. www.metmuseum.org