Any in-the-know New Yorker will tell you that the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s gift shop is actually one of the best places in the city to buy jewelry (yes, really). With earrings inspired by the museum’s ancient Egyptian and Roman artifacts and necklaces adapted from Louis C. Tiffany’s own designs, the Met Store puts other museum gift shops to shame. (Even its socks are cool.)
Unsurprisingly, the Met Store’s new capsule collection—recently unveiled to celebrate the museum’s 150th anniversary—is just as swoon-worthy. The Met 150 Edit, as it’s called, includes several dozen limited-edition pieces sold in stores and online inspired by the museum’s collection and designed in partnership with brands including Acme Studio, Allbirds, Baggu, Bulova, Catbird, crewcuts by J. Crew, Estée Lauder, Kidrobot, Mast, Native Union, and the Sill.
In addition to the proceeds of each sale from this collection going toward the museum, several of the participating brands are giving back even more. For each Estée Lauder item sold, the cosmetics company will donate 100 percent of the purchase price to the museum, while Mast has also committed to donating $5.50 from the sale of each chocolate bar and $60 of each gift box to the museum until it hits its goal of $1 million.
If you can’t make it to the Met’s reopening in New York because of COVID-19, the collection is also available to shop online at store.metmuseum.org/150. Read on to find out more about our favorite items from the collection.
Don’t sleep on these limited-edition Allbirds—they’re already starting to sell out.
Courtesy of the Met Store
1. Allbirds: Van Gogh Olive Grove
Buy Now: $95, metmuseum.org
Allbirds designed three different styles of its Tree Runners for men and women inspired by works like South Wind, Clear Sky by Katsushika Hokusai and A Vase of Flowers by Margareta Haverman. Our favorite: the ones that call out the green and tan hues in Van Gogh’s Olive Trees. They’re so popular that they’re already sold out in men’s sizes and women’s sizes 8 and up, so don’t sleep on these.
Baggu also designed a padded laptop sleeve in this same pattern.
Courtesy of the Met Store
2. Baggu: Unicorn Bag
Buy Now: $12 for one bag; $36 for three, metmuseum.org; baggu.com
Baggu designed three reusable bags (plus laptop sleeves!) for its Met collection. Our favorite item is the reusable bag emblazoned with The Unicorn Rests in a Garden, the famous medieval tapestry from the Met Cloisters.
Keep a piece of the Met close to your heart.
Courtesy of the Met Store
3. Catbird: The Met Button Souvenir Charm
Buy Now: $68, metmuseum.org; catbirdnyc.com
A throwback to the buttons that served as tickets to the museum until 2013, the Met Button Souvenir Charm is a tiny solid 14K yellow gold charm designed by Catbird, a small woman-owned business in Brooklyn. The charm can be worn on the included red silk cord or slipped onto a chain.
J. Crew also designed T-shirts for kids using Degas and the museum’s medieval armor collection as inspiration.
Courtesy of the Met Store
4. Crewcuts by J.Crew: Egyptian Party Kids’ Tee
Buy Now: $40, metmuseum.org; jcrew.com
Have an aspiring archaeologist at home? They’ll love this cotton T-shirt that features ancient Egyptian designs from the museum and a call to “Party like it’s 1999 B.C.E.” Available in sizes 2Y to 12Y.
Plants not included
Courtesy of the Met Store
5. The Sill: Pre-Columbian Planter
Buy Now: $45, metmuseum.org; thesill.org
The New York-based plant delivery company the Sill used ancient pre-Columbian vessels from the Met as the inspiration for this planter, which also comes in red. You’ll want to spend the extra $6 to get the punny “Vincent Van Grow” message pop to add a little bit of pizzazz to your plants.
Nobody would ever guess this bracelet came from a museum gift shop.
Courtesy of the Met Store
6. Catbird: Spun Gold Bracelet
Buy Now: $248, metmuseum.org; catbirdnyc.com
The silk threads from a 1793 sampler by Maria Lalor in the Met served as inspiration for this delicate 14K yellow gold bracelet.
Pick your favorite painting (or flavor).
Courtesy of the Met Store
7. Mast Chocolate: The Met Collection
Buy Now: $9 per chocolate bar; $100 for gift box of 12 bars, mastchocolate.com
The works of art on the wrapper of each bar serve as inspiration for the flavors of chocolate inside. You’ll find dark chocolate inside the bar with John Singer Sargent’s Madame X on the front, while Gustav Klimt’s Mäda Primavesi is lavender chocolate. Naturally, Katsushika Hokusai’s Under the Wave off Kanagawa has sea salt chocolate inside.
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