The reality TV star Kim Kardashian made headlines worldwide on the Met Gala’s red carpet in New York last month by sporting the famous dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang Happy Birthday to John F. Kennedy in 1962. Kardashian lost 16lbs to squeeze into the garment from the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! collection in Orlando, Florida.
But the costume committee of the International Council of Museums (Icom) was not happy with KK’s homage to movie icon Monroe. Icom pointed out that “although the dress belongs to a private collection, the heritage must be understood as belonging to humanity, regardless of which institution has custody of the property”.
Officials at the museum and heritage platform did not hold back also about the “damage derived from the use”. They added: “the difference between [the] sizes of Marilyn and the new wearer give differences in fitting strain, so it can be inferred that the textile was under intense stress on the use. The material is soufflé silk, which is no longer available, so it’s irreplaceable.” Ouch.
