2026 is shaping up to be one of the greatest years for fashion exhibitions in recent memory. From surrealist couture in London to a once-in-a-century royal wardrobe at Buckingham Palace, here are the must-see shows you need to plan around this year.
“Costume Art” – The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
📅 May 10, 2026 – January 10, 2027 🎟️ Book tickets at metmuseum.org
This is the fashion event of the year globally. The Met’s Costume Institute is opening its most ambitious show in years — “Costume Art” — which examines the dressed body across 5,000 years of art history, pairing garments from designers like Alexander McQueen and Iris van Herpen with classical artworks from across the museum’s entire collection.
It also marks the inauguration of the brand new 12,000-square-foot Condé M. Nast Galleries adjacent to the Great Hall — the Costume Institute’s first dedicated permanent space. The show opens just days after the Met Gala on May 4, with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour serving as co-chairs.
Curator Andrew Bolton designed the exhibition around thematic “body types” — including the Naked Body, the Classical Body, the Pregnant Body, and the Mortal Body — using traditional pedestals to establish fashion and fine art as equals rather than hierarchy.
Why visit: This is a landmark moment in fashion museum history. The combination of a brand new gallery, a world-class curator at the height of his powers, and 5,000 years of art makes this unmissable.
Nearest transport: 86th Street subway (4, 5, 6 trains)
“Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art” — Victoria and Albert Museum, London
📅 March 28 – November 8, 2026 🎟️ Book tickets at vam.ac.uk — Weekdays £28 / Weekends £30
This is the UK’s first ever major exhibition dedicated to Elsa Schiaparelli — and it’s already one of the most talked-about shows of the year. Spanning over 200 objects from the 1920s to the present day, the exhibition traces how Schiaparelli turned fashion into a radical artistic practice and how her surrealist legacy continues under current creative director Daniel Roseberry.
Highlights include the iconic “Skeleton” and “Tears” dresses (both created in collaboration with Salvador Dalí), a hat shaped like an upside-down shoe, the 1937 Evening Coat designed with Jean Cocteau, and rare works by Pablo Picasso and Man Ray. The exhibition also shines a first-ever spotlight on Schiaparelli’s London branch and her British clientele.
Why visit: The V&A holds the world’s most important collection of Schiaparelli garments outside Paris. Seeing the Dalí collaborations in person is a genuinely rare experience.
Getting there: South Kensington tube station (Circle, District, Piccadilly lines) — 5 minute walk Pro tip: Advance booking is strongly recommended. Weekday tickets are £2 cheaper than weekends.
“Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style” — The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London
📅 April 10 – October 18, 2026 🎟️ Book tickets at rct.uk — Adults £22 / Children £11
Marking the centenary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth, this is the largest exhibition of the late Queen’s fashion ever staged anywhere in the world. Around 200 items are on display — roughly half of which have never been shown publicly before.
The exhibition covers all ten decades of the monarch’s life, from a tulle bridesmaid dress worn by an 8-year-old Princess Elizabeth in 1934, to her 1947 Norman Hartnell wedding dress, her 1953 coronation gown, Balmoral tweeds, and the diplomatic wardrobe she built over 70 years of public life. Never-before-seen design sketches, fabric samples, and handwritten correspondence offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the most photographed woman in the world was dressed.
The show also features new pieces by British designers Erdem Moralıoğlu, Richard Quinn, and Christopher Kane, each created in response to items from the Queen’s archive.
Why visit: Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion archive is considered one of the most significant collections of 20th-century British fashion in existence. This is a once-in-a-generation show.
Ticket tip: Private evening views sold out in April and June — book standard tickets early to avoid disappointment.
“The Antwerp Six” — MoMu Fashion Museum, Antwerp, Belgium
📅 March 28, 2026 – January 17, 2027 🎟️ Book tickets at momu.be
2026 marks the 40th anniversary of one of fashion history’s most extraordinary moments. In 1986, six young Belgian designers — Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, and Marina Yee — rented a van and drove from Antwerp to London’s British Designer Show. They set up on the top floor (where nobody went) and handed out flyers until a major Barneys buyer took notice. The rest is fashion history.
This is the first time ever that a major exhibition has been dedicated solely to all six designers together. Through garments, archival documents, early collections, and contextual materials, the show traces how Antwerp became an unlikely fashion capital and how each designer built a radically different career from a shared starting point.
Why visit: Antwerp is one of Europe’s most underrated city breaks — beautiful, walkable, and packed with great food and independent boutiques. MoMu sits right in the heart of the fashion district.
Address: Nationalestraat 28, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
“Fashion in the 18th Century: A Fantasized Legacy” — Palais Galliera, Paris
📅 March 14 – July 12, 2026 🎟️ Visit palaisgalliera.paris.fr
Paris’s dedicated fashion museum takes on the Age of Enlightenment — and the extraordinary ways it has been reimagined, romanticised, and fantastically reinterpreted by designers ever since. The exhibition brings together 70 historical silhouettes and textiles alongside contemporary looks, exploring how 18th-century excess, theatricality, and whimsy continue to inspire fashion from Vivienne Westwood to John Galliano to today’s most daring designers.
Far from a dusty history lesson, the show highlights how the 18th century’s aesthetic continues to spark bold and unexpected creative interpretations — including queer and camp reinterpretations that give historical dress an entirely new life.
Why visit: If you’re in Paris between March and July this is a no-brainer. The Palais Galliera building alone — a stunning 19th-century palace in the 16th arrondissement — is worth the visit.
Pro tip: Combine with a visit to the Musée d’Art Moderne just around the corner for a full cultural afternoon.
“Vivienne Westwood & Rei Kawakubo” — National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
📅 Until April 19, 2026 🎟️ Visit ngv.vic.gov.au
Born a year apart, Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons are two of fashion’s greatest rule-breakers — and seeing their work side by side is a rare and genuinely electric experience. Featuring over 140 designs, the exhibition draws loans from international institutions including the Met, the V&A, and the Palais Galliera, alongside over 100 pieces from the NGV’s own collection.
Act fast: This exhibition closes April 19 — if you’re in Australia, this is urgent.
“Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity” — LACMA, Los Angeles
📅 June 14 – October 25, 2026 🎟️ Visit lacma.org
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art brings together 70 ensembles of Chinese women’s fashion, tracing the extraordinary evolution from Qing Dynasty imperial robes to the modern cheongsam and beyond. This is one of the most comprehensive explorations of Chinese fashion history ever staged in the United States and offers a perspective on fashion history that is rarely covered by Western institutions.
Why visit: LACMA is an incredible museum on its own merits, and this exhibition adds a genuinely rare cultural dimension that makes the trip worthwhile for any serious fashion enthusiast.
Practical Tips for Visiting Fashion Exhibitions in 2026
Book early. The Met, V&A, and Buckingham Palace shows are already seeing strong demand — especially for weekends. Don’t leave it to the last minute.
Go on weekday mornings. Crowds are significantly lighter and you’ll get more time with individual pieces without jostling for position.
Read the exhibition guide first. A little background research before you visit transforms the experience entirely.
Photography rules vary. Always check before visiting — some shows prohibit photography entirely to protect fragile garments and artworks.
Follow museum social accounts. Special events, evening views, and last-minute ticket releases are typically announced on Instagram first.
Fashion exhibitions are more than beautiful clothes behind glass. They are windows into history, politics, identity, and human creativity at its most expressive. Whether you’re planning a trip to New York for the Met Gala season, heading to London to see the Queen’s wardrobe or Schiaparelli’s surrealist masterpieces, or making your way to Antwerp or Melbourne — 2026 is genuinely one of the finest years in recent memory to be a fashion lover with a passport.
Start planning now. The best tickets are already selling fast.
