A look inside the 2019 Met Gala exhibition: 'Camp: Notes on Fashion'

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is opening its doors to the Costume Institute's spring 2019 exhibition "Camp: Notes on Fashion," in anticipation of Monday's Met Gala.

The colorful exhibition uses Susan Sontag's 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp" as its inspiration. Its goal is to portray how fashion designers have paid tribute to camp in a plethora of different ways.

Camp style is an exaggerated art form that's often outrageous, but can be hard to define.

"Camp's disruptive nature and subversion of modern aesthetic values has often been trivialized," said Max Hollein, director of the Met. "But this exhibition reveals that is has had a profound influence on both high art and popular culture."

The exhibition features of 250 objects, which includes everything from womenswear and menswear to sculptures, paintings and drawings dating back to the 17th century.

"The exhibition advances creative and critical dialogue about the ongoing and ever-evolving impact of camp on fashion," said Wendy Yu, curator in charge.

There are two distinct parts of the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" exhibit. The first, focuses on the origins of camp from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The second shows how elements of camp -- including humor, irony and parody -- have been expressed in fashion.

Pieces from designers like Balenciaga, Jean Paul Gaultier and Jeremy Scott will be on display, along with notable red carpet looks like Cardi B's oyster 2019 Grammy dress and Bjork's swan dress she wore to the 2001 Academy Awards.

The co-chairs for this year's Met Gala are Lady Gaga, Alessandro Michele, Harry Styles, Serena Williams and Anna Wintour. The gala raises money each year for the Costume Institute to provide annual funding for exhibitions, publications and acquisitions.

Celebrities will take to the red carpet Monday tonight to show off their own spin on "Camp" fashion.

Ferren Gipson, a London-based art historian and host of the "Art Matters" podcast, said she expects the clothing to be "elaborate and bordering on the absurd."

The exhibit will be on display to the public at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 9 to September 8.