<\/p>\n
A mannequin is pictured during preparations for the Met Gala exhibit “Costume Art” on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n
Charles Sykes\/Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n
Mannequins are pictured during preparations for the Met Gala exhibit “Costume Art” on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n
Charles Sykes\/Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n
Mannequins are pictured during preparations for the Met Gala exhibit “Costume Art” on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n
Charles Sykes\/Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n
Mannequins are pictured during preparations for the Met Gala exhibit “Costume Art” on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n
Charles Sykes\/Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n
A mannequin is pictured during preparations for the Met Gala exhibit “Costume Art” on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n
Charles Sykes\/Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 On a sultry summer day in Brooklyn last year, artist and couture designer Michaela Stark found herself in a studio surrounded by 175 cameras, for a photo shoot unlike any she\u2019d done before.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Clad only in her signature corsetry that binds the flesh, Stark stood in the midst of a circle as the cameras captured all angles of her body, simultaneously \u2014 part of an intricate process known as photogrammetry. The goal: to scan her body and build a mannequin \u2014 three, actually \u2014 for display in one of the world\u2019s top museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And at the Met Gala, no less.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was definitely a bit nerve-wracking,\u201d recalls Stark of the \u201cintimate and vulnerable\u201d experience. But, she quips, \u201csomething about being naked on a 40-degree (Celsius) day in a corset that isn\u2019t hiding anything kind of takes the awkwardness away from the situation, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mannequins, and others based on real-life models like Stark, will be featured in \u201cCostume Art,\u201d the upcoming spring exhibit at the museum\u2019s Costume Institute that’s launched by the starry May 4 gala. It\u2019s part of an effort to add an element of body positivity to a show that examines the dressed body in art over the centuries, says curator Andrew Bolton.<\/p>\n
Making room for body types that art has ignored<\/p>\n
Bolton notes that the classic fashion mannequin is usually around a women\u2019s size 2. The idea of these new mannequins, which will accompany the more traditional ones, is to stress that in the history of art, certain body types have been ignored or excluded \u2014 the corpulent body, the disabled body or the aging body, for example. But they, too, are part of the story. (The show comprises about 400 items \u2014 half art objects, and half garments from the museum\u2019s collection, displayed in pairs.)<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Make CT Insider a preferred source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The aim was \u201cto challenge a history of museum mannequin display that\u2019s very much characterized by thin, abled and standardized bodies,\u201d Bolton says. Rather than simply adapt existing mannequins, curators wanted to base the new mannequins \u201con a diverse range of real bodies with real, lived experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n So, along with Stark, Bolton recruited models like Sin\u00e9ad Burke, the Irish disability activist who was born with dwarfism; Aimee Mullins, the athlete, actor, model and activist who wears prosthetic lower legs; and Aariana Rose Philip, a musician and model who uses a wheelchair, among others. Nine real-life models were used to create 18 new mannequins. Seven additional mannequins represent shapes like the pregnant body and the thin male body but aren\u2019t based on real people.<\/p>\n And these 25 new mannequins will not be consigned \u2014 as some are \u2014 to retirement after the show, which opens to the public May 10. When \u201cCostume Art\u201d ends in January 2027, they’ll join the museum\u2019s permanent collection, for future use.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n This element of permanence is exciting to Stark, who has created looks for Beyonc\u00e9 and has her own, body-positive line of lingerie called Panty. Her three mannequins will be wearing her own designs, and will appear in the Reclaimed Body and Corpulent Body sections.<\/p>\n Stark has long used corsetry techniques in unconventional ways. While corsets have traditionally been used to mold the body to classic ideas of beauty, Stark uses the same techniques \u201cto actually emphasize those parts of the body that we\u2019ve been conditioned to hide. It\u2019s using the corsets to bring back power to the female form.\u201d<\/p>\n Highlighting body positivity while the fashion industry is turning away<\/p>\n The designer feels her participation in the Met\u2019s exhibit could not come at a more crucial moment \u2014 a time when the industry\u2019s commitment to body positivity appears to be fading.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n