"About Time: Fashion and Duration" was the main exhibition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in 2020. It marked the museum’s 150th anniversary and shaped the theme of that year’s Met Gala. The exhibition explored how fashion relates to the experience of time. Curator Andrew Bolton used French philosopher Henri Bergson’s idea of la durée as the conceptual basis.

Virginia Woolf appeared as the exhibition’s central voice. Her words, taken from novels like Orlando and Mrs. Dalloway, were heard throughout the galleries. Actresses Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julianne Moore, who had each starred in the 2002 film The Hours, read these texts aloud. Woolf’s thoughts on time and identity helped frame the entire experience.

The exhibition featured 60 pairs of garments from 1870 to today. Each historical outfit was placed next to a modern one, showing how fashion repeats and transforms over time. All pieces were black, except for the final look—a white Viktor & Rolf dress made from recycled materials, which pointed toward a more sustainable future.

The exhibition catalogue included a short story titled "Out of Time" by Michael Cunningham, the author of The Hours. His story followed a woman’s life across 150 years, showing how fashion reflects memory, identity, and change.