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NEW YORK: Organisers of the Met Gala face a race against time to find a replacement exhibition after cancelling plans to honour British designer John Galliano, according to a report.

The annual event is due to take place in less than a year, making it difficult to assemble a new large-scale exhibition at short notice, sources told Page Six.

One option would be to bring forward a future exhibition that is already in the planning stages, the report said. But a source familiar with the matter said the museum would still face significant challenges because extensive work had already gone into the cancelled Galliano exhibition, including research and the gathering of archival fashion pieces.

“It would not be on the same scale. There isn’t enough time to put together an exhibit [of a similar size],” the source said.

Another possibility would be an exhibition built around the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, which contains tens of thousands of fashion items spanning centuries.

“[It] has tons of pieces, so they could access what they have and make something thematic,” the source added.

Cancelling the Met Gala altogether would be a more drastic option, although the event has been called off only a handful of times in its history, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and following the September 11 attacks.

The uncertainty follows Galliano’s announcement earlier this week that he was withdrawing from the planned exhibition after facing criticism from community leaders, donors and advocacy groups.

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