The artistic integrity of a dress that is featured in “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has sparked a dispute between the two creatives, who once collaborated on a similar creation, and the Costume Institute.
The London-based artist Anouska Samms first aired the situation on Monday with a Reel on Instagram. The sticking point is “Corpus Nervana 0.0, 2023-24,” which is solely attributed to YH Studios and the New York-based Israeli designer Yoav Hadari. The sheer white frock has synthetic strands of what looks like dark hair woven through it, which Samms claims is a copy of the “Hair Dress” that she collaborated on with Hadari in 2023.
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Samms’ name is not credited in the wall text, the show’s catalogue or on The Met site. An initial plan to allow The Met to acquire the “Hair Dress” for its permanent collection dissolved last year. Hadari subsequently sold “Corpus Nervana 0.0” to the museum. She also took issue with the fact that her collaborator was paid for selling the garment to the museum for its permanent collection.
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Hadari did not acknowledge a DM Thursday seeking comment. After winning the Alexander McQueen Sarabande Foundation scholarship while completing his MAF at Central Saint Martins, Hadari struck out on their own in 2022, first under the label Hadari. The designer has benefited from mentors like Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry and Thom Browne. Now known as YH Studios, the company debuted a bridal collection last month in New York.
A spokesperson for The Met declined to comment Thursday.
Samms’ attorney Jon Sharples said via email Thursday, “The issue doesn’t boil down to a financial figure. Anouska’s main aim is to secure the artistic integrity of the original work by swapping out the remake for one she would be happy to put her name to, and then being properly credited as coauthor of that design.”
Samms said she was first tipped off about the inclusion of the garment, when she was tagged in a post by the Sarabande Foundation, which flagged its residents and alumni, who are featured in “Costume Art.”
Established in 2006 by the late designer Lee Alexander McQueen, the charitable foundation supports emerging artists and designers. As Sarabande residents in 2023, Samms collaborated with Hadari on a dress, which closely resembles “Corpus Nervina 0.0.” That “Hair Dress” was first presented at the organization’s fall 2023 show, “Quilaterally.” Representatives at Sarabande did not acknowledge a media request Thursday seeking comment about the dispute.
In the first Reel, Samms said, that “an important note for this story is that a lot of them contain human hair. Ironically, mimicry is a big thing in my practice.”
In her second Reel that was posted on Wednesday, Samms said she had heard back from The Met and “they are passing the responsibility onto me and my collaborator to resolve our differences before they take any action, and they regret that the museum was not able to help us reach an agreement.”
Her attorney Sharples confirmed that sentiment Thursday, stating that the last exchange with The Met was via its legal counsel Tuesday evening.
On the museum’s site, the online credits for “Corpus Nervina, 0.0” refer to “fall/winter 2023-24, edition 2025.” There is no photograph of the dress online.
Adding another strand to the storyline is that Bolton serves as a Sarabande ambassador.
Sharples said Thursday, “Anouska is considering her options, but is still hoping that this can be resolved amicably at the moment.”
Samms and Hadari were last in touch in December, when Hadari “communicated their decision to withdraw the Hair Dress from consideration for acquisition by the Met,” according to Sharples.