Camp: Notes on Fashion

[6] Of the co-chairs, Lady Gaga is well known for embodying the camp style, including her wearing of a dress made of raw meat at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.

[4] Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, framed the exhibition around Susan Sontag's 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp'",[7] which considers meanings and connotations of the word "camp".

[7] Bolton notes that 'camp' embraces elements including "irony, humor, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality, excess, extravagance, nostalgia, and exaggeration".

"[11] Bolton noted camp never lost its subversive element from the 1960s when the essay was written and used as a "private code primarily in the gay community".

[7] Louis XIV himself consolidated power by compelling noblemen to spend their wealth at Versailles on fashions and jewelry to adorn themselves while taking part in elaborate, mandatory social dances and faux battles.

[7] His gay younger brother, Philippe I, duc d'Orléans, was "in many ways the paradigm of camp", with his obsession with clothing and jewelry, and "besotted with his pretty male favorites".

[7] "Camp became the "ultimate expression" of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, who "devoted his life to dancing and dressing up and although he was married twice he was flamboyantly gay.

""[12] Author Andy Medhurst notes the definition has changed throughout history, "It was first a French verb ("to flaunt" or "posture"), then an adjective with a gay connotation in the 18th century, and most recently, a noun to describe exaggerated gestures and actions.

[7] The Metropolitan Museum's director, Max Hollein stated: "Camp's disruptive nature and subversion of modern aesthetic values has often been trivialized, but this exhibition will reveal its profound influence on both high art and popular culture.

[17] The exhibit, designed by the scenographer Jan Versweyveld,[11] has 175 pieces of fashion including menswear, womenswear, and 75 sculptures, paintings and drawings relating to the theme.

[22] Clémence Michallon of The Independent praised Bolton's work, stating the exhibit is "entertaining and educative, and the attentive visitor will relish in the many sensibilities of camp.

[25] The second volume has an essay by Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu curator in charge of the Costume Institute, outlying inspirations and interpretations of camp for the exhibition.