If Anna Wintour were a superhero, what would she be?

MILAN, ITALY – The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Wednesday unveiled the plans for its big spring exhibition, “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy,” which begins May 7 and is sponsored by Italian designer Giorgio Armani.

But the presentation, which included a few spectacular pieces by Armani, Gareth Pugh and John Galliano and a Batman costume from the upcoming film “Dark Knight,” was nearly eclipsed by chatter about Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, who will co-chair the May 5 opening gala with Armani, Julia Roberts and George Clooney.

Wintour has been under attack this week for her influence over the Milan show schedule. Top runway presentations here, once stretched over seven days, have been compressed into four days this season after Wintour wrote to Italian fashion designers asking them to group shows closer together to save editors a long, expensive stay in Milan.

The shortened schedule has left some younger designers out in the cold, unable to attract editors to their shows, and has prompted journalists and some designers to speak out against Wintour.

According to the Associated Press, Roberto Cavalli suggested that if Italian designers pulled their advertising from U.S. magazines “editors are sure to be less in a hurry to leave Milan.”

And when Armani took the microphone at the unveiling, instead of talking about the exhibit, he weighed in on the situation. In a rambling statement, he appeared to register support for Wintour, even as he admitted they don’t always see eye-to-eye about what makes a pretty dress.

Speaking through a translator, he said that he had heard Wintour once proclaimed, “The Armani era is over. But here I am.”

Wintour has been a huge advocate for the Costume Institute over the last decade, putting the full force of American Vogue, arguably the world’s most powerful fashion magazine in terms of influence and ad dollars, behind the exhibits and galas, which have become high-wattage celebrity events rivaling award shows.

But she is controversial, whether being targeted by anti-fur activists or inspiring the hit book and film “The Devil Wears Prada.” And lately, she’s been getting more ink than the designers she covers.

Wintour made headlines in January for her editorial rebuking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., for bowing out of a Vogue photo shoot at the last minute because “she did not want to appear too feminine.” Margaret Thatcher might have looked great in a conservative suit, but that was 20 years ago, Wintour wrote, suggesting several straight-from-the runway designer looks Clinton might try as an alternative to the pantsuit. (Nevermind that she’s campaigning in a country wracked by economic issues and war.)

Wintour’s hard stance on the length of Milan fashion week comes at a time when the role of the U.S. in the world is particularly controversial, with references to the war and Guantanamo Bay turning up everywhere on the runways.

Wintour didn’t speak at the morning media conference, but you could feel the tension among the two dozen or so foreign reporters on hand.

One asked if the museum’s exploration of superheroes as a metaphor for fashion would include characters from other countries.

“No,” said Harold Koda, curator of the Costume Institute, “which is typical American chauvinism.”

If it’s any consolation, there are pieces in the exhibit with potential political readings. Designer Bernard Wilhelm’s bleeding Superman logo dress says it all.

b ooth.moore@latimes.com