In 2015, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City presented 'Denim: Fashion's Frontier,' a major exhibition tracing the history and cultural significance of denim from its origins to its global dominance. The exhibition featured over 70 examples of denim garments, including workwear, high fashion, and streetwear, and explored denim's role in social and political movements. The show marked the first major museum survey dedicated to denim, elevating the fabric to the status of art.

The Met's denim exhibition represented a significant moment of cultural legitimization, placing denim in the same conversation as the fine arts that have historically inspired poets. The exhibition's catalog and the critical reception it received were themselves forms of cultural commentary that poets like Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine have engaged with in their work. The event also highlighted the growing academic and literary interest in fashion studies, a field that has intersected with poetry in the work of writers like Susan Sontag and Elizabeth Wilson.