The Copley Center for Costume Design at UCLA

The world’s first university center dedicated to the study of the art and history of theater, film and television costume design. The Copley Center serves UCLA TFT students, the university, and an international community of historians, scholars, filmmakers, and professional costume designers. Its programs include master classes, symposia, exhibitions, and publications. The Copley Center was founded in 2009 by a gift from newspaper publisher and philanthropist David C. Copley with founding director Deborah Nadoolman Landis, an internationally recognized scholar and award-winning costume designer.

In 1946, the Museum of Costume Art merged with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and became The Costume Institute. Under the direction of the legendary fashion arbiter Diana Vreeland, who created many memorable suites of exhibitions in her time there, The Costume Institute established a global reputation for its holdings and exhibition program.

The Costume Institute’s exhibition, acquisition, conservation, and research programs foster a greater understanding of the history of dress, promote fashion as a cultural phenomenon, and advance the study of costume design. In addition to the annual thematic exhibitions, recent monographic exhibitions have included Chanel (2005), Poiret: King of Fashion (2006), The Model as Muse (2008), Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations (2012), Manus x Machina (2015), and Charles James: Beyond Fashion (2014).

The Costume Institute is funded principally by the public, with a major contribution from The Met Gala Benefit, which has been co-chaired by Trustee Anna Wintour (Artistic Director of Conde Nast and Editor-in-Chief of Vogue) since 1995. The Museum’s annual gala is the single most important source of funding for exhibitions, research, and capital improvements.