MANHATTAN — The Alexander McQueen show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is such a hot ticket that the famed institution is — for the first time ever — keeping its doors open until midnight for the exhibition's final two nights.
The unusual move to keep the museum open into the wee hours of the night on Sat., Aug. 6, and Sun., Aug. 7, is to accommodate the wildly popular response to McQueen's "Savage Beauty," museum officials announced Thursday.
"We have created these late hours to satisfy the unprecedented interest in this landmark retrospective," Thomas Campbell, the Met's director and CEO, said in a statement. "Visitors from across the globe have come to see this remarkable exhibition, and we want to keep it open for as many people as possible."
The show has attracted nearly 500,000 visitors since opening on May 4, officials said.
The Met had already extended the hit exhibit of the late British fashion designer a week past its original end date of July 31, and then announced it would extend evening hours until 9 p.m. for the Costume Institute show during its final week, from Aug. 4 through Aug. 7.
McQueen was 40 when he took his own life last February, on the eve of New York's Fashion Week. Designer Sarah Burton was working for McQueen's line when she designed Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding dress.
"Indeed, these midnight hours will mark a fitting conclusion to this powerful exploration of McQueen's work," Campbell said.
