On the other, this apparent celebration of diversity has been contrasted with the overwhelming thinness of the red carpet at the Gala, as well as the involvement of its honorary chairs, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren S\u00e1nchez Bezos. The couple were said to have sponsored the event to the tune of $10m (\u00a37.4m), sparking calls for a boycott<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the influential fashion commentators Diet Prada<\/a> noted, this year\u2019s Met Gala was more poorly received than ever before<\/a>, with speculation rife about why some celebrities were missing the event.<\/p>\n As artwashing<\/a> is now an established media tactic, the positive elements of the exhibition could be viewed as a distraction from the negative capitalistic associations<\/a> of its sponsors.<\/p>\n However, in an age dominated by Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs, an exhibition celebrating bodies of all shapes and sizes does far more than pay politically expedient lip service to the idea of diversity.<\/p>\n The exhibition \u2013 masterminded by Andrew Bolton, the British-born curator<\/a> of the Costume Institute at the Met \u2013 pairs garments and artworks \u201corganised into a series of thematic body types that reflect their pervasiveness and endurance through time and cultures\u201d.<\/p>\n The choice of these thematic body types \u2013 which divide into sections including the Naked Body, the Classical Body, the Ageing Body and the Disabled Body \u2013 had been the subject of media coverage long before column inches were filled with the usual discussions of celebrity outfit choices.<\/p>\n Over the past month, a series of articles and related social media posts have trailed that the show would feature a physically diverse array of mannequins. This would support the exhibition\u2019s stated aim of exploring distinct bodies across time and space. On April 21, sculptor Frank Benson \u2013 most famous for his figurative works \u2013 posted on social media that it had been the \u201chonour of a lifetime\u201d to create a group of mannequins for the Met\u2019s show. <\/p>\n These newly commissioned mannequins allow the show to present its garments on an array of bodies \u2013 variously abled, fat and thin, and in different states of pregnancy and undress. These are not one-off pieces. As Benson confirmed, the mannequins will be transferred afterwards into the Costume Institute\u2019s permanent collection and used in future exhibitions.<\/p>\n Each of the figures wears a mirrored mask, encouraging viewers\u2019 identification with these more \u201crealistic bodies\u201d. In so doing, the curators utilise a highly literal but effective means of reflecting the norm within clothing and spaces usually reserved for the thinnest of bodies. <\/p>\n Alongside the forms of the mannequins themselves, \u201cthe Corpulent Body\u201d (the Met\u2019s somewhat unfortunate wording) is also invoked through specially commissioned photography and fashion design, including work by designers Karoline Vitto<\/a> and Michaela Stark<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stark has created some of her highly recognisable undergarments that truss the body in silk organza ties \u2013 resulting in pockets of fat and bulging extrusions that encourage speculation on what the beautiful erotic body might look like. <\/p>\n Despite this, recent data<\/a> from industry insiders suggests a broader backward slide in representation that counters the narrative pushed by the exhibition. The model Felicity Hayward<\/a> has done pioneering work season after season recording plus-size representation on the runways: the autumn\/winter 26 lineup (shown in Europe and US in February) had the lowest numbers of size inclusive models for years.<\/p>\n Of the 3,840 looks shown at New York Fashion Week, only 20 were shown on plus-sized bodies. This was a staggering 50% lower<\/a> than it had been the previous year.<\/p>\n Vogue Business interviewed a number of casting directors on this notable shift. One, Chloe Rosolek, described this \u201cregression in inclusion\u201d as the literal \u201cerasure of women\u2019s bodies\u201d. The Costume Art exhibition seems to stand firm against this shift. <\/p>\n But as many social media observers have noted, the exhibition\u2019s attempts at representing equality and body positivity feel at odds with a red carpet that was populated by an ever-thinner group of celebrities. With weight-loss easier to achieve than ever thanks to the widespread use of GLP-1 drugs<\/a>, many figures in the public eye have appeared to lose significant amounts of weight.<\/p>\n The Gala guestlist did include a more diverse crowd, including the disabled transgender model Aariana Rose Philip<\/a>, whose body one of the mannequins was based upon. But in event roundups dominated by influencers, singers and actors, this bodily diversity makes little impression. <\/p>\n While Instagram feeds suggest the most important and fashionable of red-carpet appearances belong to the thinnest bodies, the exhibition itself does seem to achieve its goals in furthering representation of diverse bodies. And it does so on one of the most influential and public stages.<\/p>\nDiversity fights back<\/h2>\n
Is there a future for body positivity?<\/h2>\n
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