Sandy Schreier Was in Her Fashionable Element at the Costume Institute’s Latest Exhibition Opening

Exhibitions often celebrate the designers, muses, and photographers of fashion; collectors are rarely given any attention. So when the Met announced its latest exhibition—a show dedicated to the illustrious sartorial holdings of Sandy Schreier—you know she must have quite the archive.

Her collection of couture gowns and rare 20th-century garments is the subject of a new fashion exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curated by the Costume Institute and on view through May 2020, “In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection” displays approximately 80 of the 165 gifts donated by Schreier to the Met. To mark the opening of the exhibition, the Met invited Schreier and friends for an after-hours cocktail party.

Though Schreier has lent the Met garments in the past, this exhibition is the first to showcase her collection somewhat en masse—of Schreier’s thousands of pieces, less than 200 were on view. The gallery shows off her catalog of special gowns ranging from well-known designers like Chanel, Dior, Balmain, and Balenciaga to unidentified and lesser-known American and European designers. The exhibition is divided into narrative themes: her early collecting in Detroit, designs by Spanish designer Mariano Fortuny, 1920s and 1930s haute couture, and whimsical contemporary fashion that reflects her personality.

The show was organized by the Costume Institute’s Andrew Bolton, Jessica Regan, and Mellissa Huber. On curating the show, Bolton told Vogue: “I first met Sandy in 2002 when I worked on a show at the Met ‘Blithe Spirit,’ which is about the 1930s. Sandy invited me to her house to look at her collection of 1930s couture. I didn’t realize the extent. That was 17 years ago. Over the years, we’ve gotten to know Sandy’s collection much more. It is a museum collection in and of itself. Then she approached us in 2006 saying that she’s interested in gifting a substantial amount of the collection. It was extraordinary because there are pieces she has in her collection that are missing in ours.… We narrowed down from 3,000 photos to 165 pieces. It adds and augments our collection. It’s really an unparalleled collection of couture in private hands.”

The after-hours cocktail reception was hosted in the Met’s iconic Temple of Dendur. Guests like Vogue’s Hamish Bowles, milliner Stephen Jones (who provided the exhibition’s delightful headpieces), Jordan Roth, Amy Fine Collins, and Harold Koda looped down the long corridor of the Egyptian wing toward the ancient Egyptian temple, where Champagne flutes and chocolate-covered strawberries awaited.

The collector traveled to New York from her Detroit home to celebrate the opening. Sandy Schreier wore an embroidered black ensemble with voluminous sleeves, chandelier earrings, and silver boots. Her ensemble looked like it belongs on a mannequin in the exhibition, though she has made it clear that her collection of dresses is not to be worn (even by herself!), only preserved and displayed.

“In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection,” runs from November 27, 2019, to May 17, 2020 at the Anna Wintour Costume Center of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.