Prepare to be amazed by the upcoming “Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between” exhibition at the Costume Institute—and not just by the clothes. From what we hear, the show design itself, which was conceived by Rei Kawakubo and curator Andrew Bolton, with lighting design by Thierry Dreyfus, breaks with convention, just as the catalogue did by showing the archival clothes on models. While this might seem like NBD to magazine readers and Instagram addicts, things operate very differently in museums. As these public institutions hold objects in trust for the public, their preservation must constantly be kept in mind.

No one is more preoccupied with this mission than museum conservators. “We are the custodians and the caretakers of these objects that have been entrusted to us,” says Sarah Scaturro, the Costume Institute’s head conservator, whose job is to balance the risk involved in displaying the objects with the institution’s mission to share its collections with the public. Scaturro might work behind the scenes, but no one is more up close and personal with the clothes, which she gets to know inside and out. Here, she shares her unique perspective on the “Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between” with Vogue Runway readers.

Why is it a big deal that the clothes were shot on models for the catalogue?Once an object comes into the museum, as conservators, we are ethically bound to protect the object. The thing with putting antique or vintage clothing—or just even contemporary clothing on a living human body—is that every time you do that you are putting the object at risk for damage from the flexing and the moving that a person might do, or perhaps from sweat. Even the increase in body temperature can actually cause chemical changes in the fabrics. Our goal is to minimize as much risk of damage as possible; that is why we don’t allow objects to be worn.

So how did the pictures for the catalogue get made?[At the time the photographs were taken, the clothes were not] in the custody of the museum; they were in private hands. Obviously, the owner of those clothes can do whatever they want to do with those clothes. [At the museum,] we’re thinking about the long-term plan; we are trying to make these objects last as long as we possibly can, so that precludes putting [them] on a living human body.