"AngloMania," the Costume Institute exhibition that opens this month (May 1 through September 4) in the English period rooms of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, places historical costume alongside the recent work of Britain's most anarchic contemporary fashion designers. Curator Andrew Bolton describes it as a study in "tradition and transgression." In some ways, it is intended to provide a counterpoint to 2004's "Dangerous Liaisons," the blockbuster that saw the exquisite eighteenth-century rooms of the Wrightsman Galleries come vividly to life with a series of frolicking costumed vignettes designed to conjure the risqué French engravings of the period. Once again, theater designer Patrick Kinmonth is creative consultant for a show that promises to be a lively evocation of classic British obsessions—class, sport, royalty, pageantry, pomp, the English country garden, and even the gutter press. Historic English costumes will be juxtaposed with the work of fashion and accessory designers including Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Stephen Jones, Philip Treacy, and Manolo Blahnik. The exhibition is underwritten by Burberry (celebrating its 150th anniversary this year), a company that literally clothed the British Empire with ineffably practical, weather-resistant garments and that is now enjoying a design renaissance under the fashion direction of Yorkshire-born Christopher Bailey.

By assembling historical and contemporary clothing in superb interiors that once graced some of England's most important houses, Bolton draws attention to the ongoing dialogue between past and present that defines the best of British fashion. "What is really wonderful about British style is that it is a combination of elements," says Bailey. "You can have something that is very, very sophisticated, but there's always a sense of whimsy that makes it unique. There's a spirit of not being too precious, as well as a grittiness to English fashion, that gives it an edge."

"No-rules Britannia" has been edited for Style.com; the complete story appears in the May 2006 issue of Vogue.

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