The Met Store Released a Special ‘About Time’ Collection—With a Wide Selection of Masks

At long last, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s exhibition “About Time: Fashion and Duration” has opened in New York. Originally set to open in May, it’s now on view and explores the nonlinear nature of fashion history starting from 1870 to the present day. 

Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, told Vogue last November that the exhibition is “a reimagining of fashion history that’s fragmented, discontinuous, and heterogeneous.” As such, “About Time” sheds light on the similarities between vastly different fashion eras. For instance, the notion that a black princess-line dress from the late 1870s can be similar to Alexander McQueen’s “bumster” skirts. 

To complement the exhibition, eight designers created special items, which are only available at the Fifth Avenue location. Gypsy Sport crafted “I Heart NY” bucket hats, tees, and hoodies; Emily Adams Bode of Bode made upcycled bags and jackets; Libertine designed a special clock-centric silk scarf; and Brother Vellies made special ruffled socks. Rounding out the selection of designer goodies are Vaquera’s trompe l’oeil corset tee and J. Hannah’s nail polish set. Illustrator, author, and creative director Donald Robertson also designed a capsule collection for the exhibit consisting of tees, totes, scarves, and more.

 To tie into the theme of time and repurposed trends in fashion, many of the pieces were made of upcycled or reused materials. The Gypsy Sport pieces, for instance, are fashioned from I Heart NY merchandise found on Canal street. As designer Rio Uribe puts it, “The Met’s ‘About Time’ exhibition inspired me to create something for the museum’s visitors that was connected to the past, while moving us closer to a sustainable future.” 

While the exhibit riffs on the idea that nothing is totally new in fashion, there has been a marked shift in how people dress in the past year. Namely, everyone is wearing masks. And so, it’s only natural that several designers created masks for the “About Time” store. Off-White, Gypsy Sport, Bode, Erdem, and Balmain masks are now available at the “About Time” store. Each is decidedly fashionable: One of Bode’s has a sweet cowboy boot charm, while Off-White’s sports the house’s logo, and Erdem’s is covered in a toile print. To see the selection, head on over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, as they’re only available in person.