CBS 2 At The Met

CBS 2 At The Met: Superhero Fashions

NEW YORK (CBS) ― It's the Summer of spandex and superheroes at the Met. The Costume Institute's latest adventure, "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" opened in May and has been attracting fans of comic book icons and hot runway fashions alike. The design of the display is an adventure in itself, through a brightly-lit, mirrored corridor featuring more than sixty vibrant outfits.

A college-age museum visitor commented to CBS 2's Dana Tyler, "I think it's fascinating in a city so consumed with celebrity and fashion to have it all here and in the Met. It's classy and fun!

The show connects fashion's ties to comic book heroes. Like Giorgio Armani's gown of webbed silk, glass and crystal, to the costume actor Tobey Maguire wore playing the daring crusader. This show is a hit with families. Just ask this dad from Queens.

"They're really into Marvel. My son is into Ironman, Batman, and my daughter, just follows along."

The Marshant family is visiting from California.

The dad told Tyler, "It's a great show, it gets them involved, it gets them excited."

And the mom, "Its the only show our kids wanted to see, while we look at the art!"

Of course, to Curator Andrew Bolton it's all art.

He said, "I do think fashion is an art. I'm very passionate about fashion and to find a metaphor like superhero explains the idea of transformation. Basically fashion transforms you, transcends, you can be anything, anybody through fashion."

Some high school grads are eating it up. "I loved Catwoman. We want to be fashion students for college so we're really into it." Another commented,"Ii think it was really cool how they used Coke cans for some of the designs and different types of materials. It really makes you think outside the box."

Museum visitors will see how Clark Kent transforms into the Superman costume worn by actor Christopher Reeve in the 1978 film. And what Robert Downey, Jr. wore in this year's blockbuster movie "Ironman." The exhibition stresses that the superhero body is forever youthful and awe inspiring. So you can't help but be in awe of the muscle-bound armored icon which knows no fear. Bolton showed it alongside Designer Tierry Mugler's iron-clad outfit.

Bolton explained. "It's really about clothing that clothing that's used for protection but feeds into our paranoia about the frailties of the flesh. Ironman was actually a real person, He wasn't a superhero, he trained his body to the peak of his abilities."

The museum's marketing is at work here, too, with cartoon buzzwords all over superhero souvenirs. Though for Marvel fans it's just fun to dream.

"If i was a superhero, I would be Mystique," one fan told Tyler.

"Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" at the Met until September 1st.

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