The Met Gala 2024's theme is Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, Vogue reported.
The dress code: The Garden of Time. This year's hosts are Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth. Co-hosting on the red carpet are Gwendolyn Christie, La La Anthony and Ashely Graham. Social media star Emma Chamberlain is also returning as Vogue's special correspondent who will interview the stars on the red carpet as they arrive.
Sleeping Beauty…
Formally known as the Costume Institute Gala or Costume Institute Benefit, the Met Gala has been known to be the most glamorous event of the year. For this year, following the theme of Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, the event will feature about 250 items from the Institute's permanent collection. Most of these would not have been seen in public before.
The 250 pieces will range from fashion pieces from design houses such as Schiaparelli, Dior, Givenchy and many more. Some of the outfits taken from the collection won't be see n on the red carpet since they are too fragile to actually be worn — for example, an 1877 Charles Frederick Worth ball gown from the House of Worth. These will be displayed through AI, CGI, light projection, video animation and other sensory stimulation forms.
The Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute Andrew Bolton noted that the exhibition will be about the three main “zones” of land, sea and sky.
“It is very much an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion,” he stated.
in The Garden of Time
The Garden of Time dress code is taken from J.G. Ballard's 1962 short story of the same name. The story begins with the entrance of Count Axel. He's a bearded man, in the fashion of King George V, dressed in a black velvet jacket, complete with white gloves and a cane. One of the elements of the short story that literally embodies the title is the time flower. The plant itself can grow up to six feet tall, however the flower is about as big as a goblet and its opaque petals protecting a crystal heart.
Before we tackle what exactly is the Met Gala, let's ask a question that might not be answered here: What happens at the Met Gala?
Vogue says it's a secret since the guests have to follow the strict rule of no-phones and therefor no-social media policy. What we see on the red carpet are the costumes that the celebrities are wearing. For the most part, the women do show up and show out. A few select men sometime do get bold with their sartorial choices. Hopefully, this year, there will be a lot more who will take chances. After all, florals for nearly may not be groundbreaking but they certainly would be on theme.
On to the question:
What is the Met Gala?
Ostensibly, it's an annual fundraising to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. The guest list is top secret until the evening before the event. However, in the last few years, there have been mainstays such as luminaries from the fashion and entertainment world like Beyoncé, Rihanna and Gigi Hadid. Most of the time, designers show up on the red carpet with their muses the way Marc Jacobs did for Kate Moss or Nicolas Ghesquière for Emma Stone.
According to The New York Times, the ticket to this year's gala costs $75,000 or $350,000 for one table. Celebrities invited usually don't pay for their own tickets. Instead, the brands pay the cost of the ticket/s and invite the celebrity. The price is a 50% increase from last year's $50,000.
The gala is held every year on the first Monday of May. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour has chaired or co-chaired the Met Gala since 1995, with the exception of 1996. The chair that year was her British Vogue successor Liz Tilberis who attended with her good friend, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Met Gala began in 1948 and was established by the fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert to raise funds for the newly founded Costume Institute to celebrate the opening of its exhibit. The first gala was just dinner and the tickets cost $50 ($648 in today's money).
During the first few decades of the event, it was merely one of the many yearly New York benefits held to support charitable institutions. The early galas were attended almost exclusively by New York high society and the city's fashion industry. From its inception in 1948 to 1971, it was held at different venues around Manhattan from the Waldorf Astoria to Central Park to the Rainbow Room at the 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Are you on theme?
When Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland became the Costume Institute's consultant in 1972, the event slowly transformed into a global glamour gala. While it was still aimed at the members of high society, high-profile celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger, Diana Ross and Cher started getting invitations. It was also during Vreeland's tenure that the gala was first held at the Met and themes introduced.
While it is widely regarded as arguably the most glamorous event in the world, it is also a massive fundraising party. In 2013, it raised $9 million for the Institute, $12 million the next year and then a what was then record $17.4 million in 2022. It was topped the next year with $22 million. With the price increase this year, it will surely raise another record-breaking amount.
Since 1948, the event has been held annually with the exception of the years 1991, 2000, 2002 and 2020, according to Women's Wear Daily. In 1991, the Met didn't host an exhibit. For 2000, it was due to a canceled Chanel exhibit. In 2002, it was the year after the tragic events of 9/11. In 2020, it was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The gala resumed in 2021, but it was moved to September instead of the traditional May event. It was only in 2022 that it resumed being held in May.
It wasn't always held in May. This custom only dates back 19 years. From 2001 to 2004, it was held in late April. Before that, the Met Gala was held in early or late December. However, several cancellations and postponements (as mentioned above) made the month of May the seeming goldilocks month for the event.
Celebrating people, art and vibes
While Vreeland started the themes for the event, it wasn't until 1973 that it was officially themed. Or at least it was the year when fashion plates started chronicling the themes. CBS News listed 1973's event's theme as The World of Balenciaga. Over the years, the themes also highlight a specific person's style or vibe. In 1978, it was about Russian art critic Sergei Diaghilev. Yves Laurent was the focus in 1983, celebrating 25 years of his career.
The year 1989 celebrated the Age of Napoleon. In 1993, the Met Gala honored the woman responsible for the start of the use of themes in Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style. The years 1996 and 1997 held back-to-back fetes of Christian Dior and Gianni Versace. For 2001, it was former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.
In 2005, it was the House of Chanel; 2007, Paul Poiret was hailed as the King of Fashion; 2011 hailed Alexander McQueen's Savage Beauty; 2014 was all about Charles James; 2017 celebrated the founder of Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo; and 2023 was for Karl Lagerfeld.
For May 6, fashion magazines, channels and blogs will be busy cataloguing who was on theme and who wasn't. There will most likely be water cooler discussions (on site and virtual) of favorites.
Will you be doing the same?
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