THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART INVITES TODD SNYDER TO DESIGN APPAREL COLLECTION
As part of its mission to collect, study, conserve, and present significant works of art across time and cultures in order to connect all people to creativity, knowledge, ideas, and one another, The Metropolitan Museum of Art invited designer Todd Snyder to create an exclusive series of wearable designs inspired by the museum’s holdings. The 12-piece collection includes chore coats, puffer jackets, sweaters, scarves, and sweatshirts reimagining masterpieces by Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883), Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), and Vincent van Gogh (Dutch,1853–1890). Snyder selected the paintings to adapt into apparel after spending several Wednesdays (the day the Museum is closed to the public) with The Met’s world-famous collection.
The collection will launch on Thursday, November 30th, 2023, at 10 am ET, and will be available exclusively at toddsnyder.com and Todd Snyder stores in Rockefeller Center in New York, The Grove in Los Angeles, and Bal Harbour in Miami, as well as The Met’s Fifth Avenue store. Retails range from $228 for shirts to $1,500 for a parka.
Some of the label’s toughest creative decisions to make included which period and which artists to choose from a collection that spans over 5,000 years of art. “There was something about the colors, the brushstrokes of Van Gogh, the palette of Degas, and the composition of Manet that made them feel incredibly modern, incredibly relevant,” says Snyder of the paintings he chose.
Once Snyder landed on a tight selection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, he began thinking about how best to adapt the paintings into articles of clothing. Three Degas paintings, including a portrait (ca. 1867–68) of the artist’s friend and mentor James Tissot, are reinterpreted together on a camp collared shirt.
The bold brushstrokes of Van Gogh’s Olive Trees (1889) felt right for a lightweight yet toasty duck-down parka. There is also a puffer vest featuring a detail from the same orchard scene. Similarly, Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Cypresses (1889) lent itself to a chore coat, “because the chore is based on a French worker’s garment and the kind of thing you could imagine him wearing,” Snyder explains.
Other key Met artworks that inform this collection include Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (1887), a detail of which is featured on a crewneck sweater; Van Gogh’s Irises (1890) on a hoodie; and Edgar Degas’s View of Saint-Valéry- sur-Somme (1896–98) as a chore coat in a moody color story composed of camels, chocolates, and pale browns.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with the iconic menswear designer Todd Snyder, a creative expert in all things style. Each piece in the collection is a celebration of a Met masterpiece that brings art to life through wearable designs for the contemporary customer.” Josh Romm, Head of Global Licensing and Partnerships at The Met.
