Met Gala 101: Your Crash Course for May 1st 2023
The Met Gala has recently garnered a lot of publicity—mostly for its outlandish red carpet fashions—but there are a lot of details and history involved in this annual event. Welcome to Met Gala 101, your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about the first Monday in May.
So, What Even Is The Met Gala?
Although the general public views it as little more than a celebrity runway show, the Met Gala, officially referred to as the Costume Institute Benefit, is actually a fundraiser. Generating more than two million dollars in 2022 for the Met’s yearly Costume Institute Exhibition, the Met Gala is the main source of income for their expansive costume inventory.
Pre-Anna Wintour History
Current co-chair Anna Wintour is nearly synonymous with the Met Gala at this point, but the benefit has a rich history before her, including two other prominent women. The Met Gala was founded in 1948 by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert as a dinner party to support the once new Costume Institute. In addition to Eleanor Lambert and Anna Wintour, the third woman who influenced the Met Gala is Diana Vreeland. Vreeland was responsible for instigating the transition of the Met Gala from high society philanthropy to an asset of celebrity notoriety.
What About The Theme?
This year's theme is ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ with a dress code being in honor of the late designer. Lagerfeld was a renowned designer working for many notable companies such as Chanel, Fendi, Balmain, and his own label, Karl Lagerfeld. The Met Gala is known for its themes which reflect the year’s Costume Institute exhibit, but it existed without a theme for about 25 years. Diana Vreeland introduced themes to the gala with the first being an ode to Balenciaga in 1973.
The Guest List Drama
The Met Gala guest list, according to Vogue, is supposed to be undisclosed until the night before the event; however, this year there have been some rumblings about a certain family being disinvited. For some time, people have speculated that the Kardashian-Jenner family have been disinvited from the gala because of Kim Kardashian’s decision to wear an original Marilyn Monroe dress to the 2022 Met Gala. These rumors have since proven to be entirely false, and an embarrassment for the family, according to Evening Standard.
Anticipation is tense as the Met Gala always promises to bring beautiful, sometimes questionable fashion, and celebrity controversy. Who are you most excited to see?