Based on “The Garden of Time'' by J.G. Ballard, the theme references the short story of a Count and Countess who revel in leisure within the walls of their otherworldly, lush villa. Surrounding them is a garden full of flowers boasting a luminous, crystalline quality. On their terrace, from where they gaze at their sprawling estate, the pair observe an enraged mob headed in their direction. The only way to stall their encroachment is to pick a flower from the garden. This proves to be a salve only until there are none left in bloom. When the flowers are all plucked and the mob finally descends on the garden, the couple exist only as statues, now fixed and unmoving, entangled in thorny vines.

Put simply, time and its inevitability is at the heart of the theme, which links closely with clothing preservation. The upcoming exhibition is quite meta in honouring the work that the costume institute itself does - That is, preserving the presence of fashion in the fabric of history by, well, working to preserve literal fabric. The reality is, especially with regards to older works of fashion, most materials used are made from natural resources. As such, they fall victim to light exposure, UV rays, moisture levels, insects and animals, air quality, dust, mold and mildew which inevitably cause them to if not disintegrate then significantly weaken. The exhibition will boast around 250 extremely delicate pieces, which are cared for by professionals trained to prevent their degradation.