Andrew Bolton named successor to Harold Koda at Costume Institute

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Sep 9, 2015

The Metropolitan Museum of Art confirmed Tuesday that Harold Koda well step down on January 8, 2016 after having led the Costume Institute for 15 years. He will be succeeded by Curator, Andrew Bolton, who has been at the Costume Institute since 2002.

"During his time at the Met, Harold has brought great change to the department, including the transfer of the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection to the Museum, and the two-year renovation and reopening of its space as the Anna Wintour Costume Center last year," said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In his earlier tenure at the Met as Associate Curator, Koda worked closely with the late Richard Martin, then Curator in Charge, on 12 acclaimed exhibitions, including Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style (1993) and Christian Dior (1996). He has co-authored 20 books, including 12 landmark catalogues for Met exhibitions.

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Born in Honolulu, Koda has also worked at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and at the Edward C. Blum Design Laboratory of the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Replacing Harold Coda is Curator, Andrew Bolton, who joined the Costume Institute in 2002 as Associate Curator before he was named Curator in 2006. He has worked closely with Koda and independently on countless exhibitions, including the most recent China: Through the Looking Glass. Curated by Mr. Bolton, it closed on Monday after attracting 815,992 visitors, surpassing The Costume Institute’s prior most popular show on Alexander McQueen.

Born in the UK, he also worked at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for nine years and curated exhibitions at the London College of Fashion during this period.