10 November 2026

Vienna Exhibition Connects Fashion, Art and the Met Gala

Map locating Galerie Eva Presenhuber at Lichtenfelsgasse 5 in Vienna

Image: Map showing the location of Galerie Eva Presenhuber at Lichtenfelsgasse 5, 1010 Vienna, where Nina Hollein's exhibition Body Spinners opens on November 10, 2026. The exhibition is the gallery's final presentation in Vienna before its closure in December. © Google Maps

Quick Read

• Nina Hollein presents Body Spinners, her first exhibition in Vienna, at Galerie Eva Presenhuber.
• The exhibition explores clothing as architecture for the body, combining fashion, sculpture, material and movement.
• Her black Met Gala dress, inspired by Vladimir Tatlin's Monument to the Third International, provides an additional connection to New York's fashion scene.
• The opening takes place today, November 10, from 6 to 9 pm. The exhibition runs until December 4 and is also the final show at the gallery's Vienna location.

Fashion as architecture for the body

One of the more intriguing exhibition invitations to reach Fashion.at recently announces Body Spinners, a solo presentation by Nina Hollein at Galerie Eva Presenhuber. The invitation itself sets out an interesting proposition: clothing as architecture for the body, where material, movement and imagination meet. The New York-based architect, fashion designer and artist has spent two decades exploring the space between fashion and sculpture. Her garments use fabric, silhouette and construction to change proportions and establish a relationship between the dressed body and its surroundings. Each piece is conceived and made by Hollein herself. The exhibition brings together dresses that balance structural frameworks with wearability.

From the Met Gala red carpet to Vienna

The international attention surrounding the exhibition has another explanation. At the Met Gala on May 4, 2026, Hollein appeared in a striking black dress inspired by Vladimir Tatlin's famous Monument to the Third International, better known as Tatlin's Tower. The Russian Constructivist artist imagined a monumental, spiralling structure that was never built. Hollein translated its architectural idea into a garment. The connection is particularly interesting because the 2026 Costume Institute exhibition was titled Costume Art, while the Gala's dress code was Fashion is Art. The exhibition examined the relationship between the dressed body and artistic representations of the human form. Hollein's creation made that connection tangible, turning an architectural concept into wearable sculpture. The dress is now part of the Vienna presentation. Vienna may occasionally look towards New York with a little envy when it comes to the international visibility of an event such as the Met Gala. This is hardly surprising: few fashion events combine museum culture, celebrity, design and international media attention on the same scale. The appearance of a Met Gala creation in a Viennese gallery offers a particularly direct connection between the two cities.

The next Met Gala: The extraordinary in everyday things

There is already another New York event to look forward to. On November 5, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the theme of its 2027 Costume Institute exhibition: extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday. The next Met Gala is scheduled for May 3, 2027. The concept examines how designers transform familiar clothing and commonplace materials into something unexpected. Jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts and puffer coats are among the everyday garments under consideration. Paper, plastic and metal will also feature as materials that can be reinterpreted through fashion and craftsmanship. The idea continues the discussion about fashion as an art form, but shifts attention towards the creative potential of ordinary objects and materials. Hollein's earlier experiments with traditional textiles and everyday fabrics, including her designs made from linen and tea towels, provide an interesting point of reference. It will be worth seeing how she approaches this new theme.

A final exhibition for the Vienna gallery

There is also a local reason why this opening deserves attention. Galerie Eva Presenhuber opened its Vienna location in 2022, bringing the internationally established Zurich gallery's programme to the Austrian capital. The decision to close the Vienna space was announced earlier this year. According to the gallery's owner, commercial developments in Vienna did not meet expectations, despite the artistic success of the programme. The gallery will close after Hollein's exhibition, which runs from November 11 to December 4.

For today's opening, the combination of a first Vienna presentation, a recognisable Met Gala creation and a discussion about the boundaries between clothing, sculpture and architecture makes Body Spinners a particularly interesting meeting point for fashion and art in the city. With the gallery approaching its final weeks in Vienna, tonight's vernissage is likely to be one of the more closely watched cultural openings of the season.

Exhibition: Nina Hollein, Body Spinners
Opening: November 10, 2026, 6–9 pm
Dates: November 11–December 4, 2026
Venue: Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Lichtenfelsgasse 5, 1010 Vienna.