TThe annual Met Gala is held to celebrate the dresses on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but on May 6th all eyes will be on the celebrities who enter the museum in dresses that are works of art in their own right.
Held on the first Monday of every May, the Met Gala serves to raise money for the museum’s Costume Institute. Over the years, the party has evolved from a dinner party for Manhattan socialites to a must-see red carpet and costume party with famous attendees from around the world.
“It has become one of the rare occasions when movie stars, models, designers, society swans, rock legends, athletes, politicians and rappers, not to mention a cultural icon or two, come together to celebrate fashion – and pass a night at the museum”, writes Vogue editor-in-chief and longtime Met Gala co-chair Anna Wintour in Vogue and the Metropolitan Costume Institute of the Museum of Art.
See how the Met Gala became the biggest fashion event of the year.
When was the first Met Gala?
The event began in December 1948 as a midnight dinner that cost $50 to attend.
The first Met Gala was the brainchild of fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert, who played a key role in launching NY Fashion Week. She saw the event as a way to raise funds for the Costume Institute’s expenses and celebrate the opening of its annual exhibition.
Self-dubbed “The Party of the Year,” it took place at the Waldorf Astoria, and guests dressed in their best formal attire.
How the Met Gala Became a Theme fashion event
Met galas began featuring themes in the 1970s, when the legendary Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland became special consultant to the Costume Institute (1972-1989).
The first themed Met Gala was the 1973 Cristóbal Balenciaga retrospective, a year after his death. Notable themes in the Vreeland era include a Russian-themed costume exhibition – for which the renowned fashion editor dressed in Slavic attire – and an old Hollywood theme – for which singer Cher wore head-to-toe fringe. feet. Vreeland is known for involving more celebrities in the event, such as First Lady Jackie Kennedy, who served as co-chair from 1977 to 1978.
After VogueAnna Wintour took over the event in 1995, the party grew in size and began to include appearances from big names in cinema, sports, business and music. As Wintour biographer Amy Odell wrote for TIME in 2022, the party is not just a celebration of the Costume Institute, but also a celebration of Wintour’s dominance in the industry.
Through Wintour’s influence, the Met Gala has become one of fashion’s most exclusive annual events. Every year, stars who receive an invitation appear dressed in accordance with the theme, or at least its interpretation. Sometimes the dresses seem to suggest literal layers of meaning; At the 1996 Met Gala, designers saw Princess Diana’s silky, lingerie-inspired blue dress as a “revenge dress” because she used it the same year she divorced then-Prince Charles. Religious Met Gala watchers will remember that time Rihanna took to the red carpet dressed as a Pope in 2018, and the outlandish Met gala appears to have peaked last year when pop star Doja Cat showed up in cat ears.
What to Expect at the 2024 Met Costume Exhibition
Nearly 250 garments and accessories spanning four centuries from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection will be displayed in new ways using artificial intelligence, computer-generated imagery, x-rays, video animation, light projection and soundscapes.
Iconography related to nature “will serve as a metaphor for the fragility and ephemerality of fashion and as a vehicle to examine the cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal”, according to the museum.
Designers presented include Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
