''Fashion and religion" will be the theme of next year's blockbuster fashion exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York, sources privy to the plans have revealed to Women's Wear Daily.
The exhibition, which in turn prompts the theme for the annual, Vogue-associated Met Gala and its spectacular red carpet parade, is set to be one of the museum's most ambitious - and potentially controversial - to date.
The launch is set for May 7 2018.
Fashion and religion have forever been intertwined, as designers from Jean Paul Gaultier, to Christopher Kane, to Dolce & Gabbana have referenced silhouettes, iconography and colour palettes from religious dress within their collections.
In celebrity culture, too, stars such as Madonna and Lady Gaga have appropriated elements of religion in music videos and stage performances, causing some sartorial talking points.
This year's Met exhibition focused on avant-garde fashion designer Rei Kawakubo and her label Comme des Garçons. The Art of the In-Between opened in May with a gala where Rihanna and Katy Perry wore extreme dresses. It closes in September.
The epic productions attract visitors to the museum from all around the world - last year's Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology had 752,995 attendees.
The most popular effort ever from the Costume Institute, which has been running annual showcases since 1946, was 2015's China: Through the Looking Glass which boasted 815,992 visitors. - The Daily Telegraph
• This article was originally published in The Times.
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