Met Gala
The Met Gala draws massive media coverage and captivates audiences worldwide. The event’s red carpet has become a stage for iconic fashion moments that are widely shared and discussed on social media.
The Met Gala, formally known as the “Costume Institute Gala” is an annual fundraising event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. It marks the opening of the institute’s annual fashion exhibition and has become one of the most celebrated events in the fashion world. It usually takes place on the first Monday in May.
The event was first held in 1948, founded by publicist Eleanor Lambert, who aimed to raise funds for the Costume Institute and increase awareness of its collection. In its early years, the event was a high-society dinner attended by members of New York’s elite.
The Met Gala began to evolve in the 1970s when Diana Vreeland, former editor-in-chief of Vogue, became a special consultant to the Costume Institute. Under her influence, the event started to attract more media attention and became a glamorous, celebrity-driven affair.
Since 1995, Anna Wintour, longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue, has overseen the gala, elevating it into a global, star-studded event that attracts extensive media coverage. Her leadership, along with her uncompromising attention to detail, has helped secure the gala’s status as a major cultural and fashion highlight.
Each year, the Met Gala has a specific theme related to the Costume Institute’s exhibition. Invited attendees, including celebrities, designers and (so-called) influencers, are expected to dress according to the theme, leading to an array of creative and often extravagant fashion statements. Nothing is too extreme. Themes have ranged from “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” to “Camp: Notes on Fashion” … offering a blend of historical and contemporary inspiration.
The Met Gala draws massive media coverage and captivates audiences worldwide. The event’s red carpet (aka the “Met steps”) has become a stage for iconic fashion moments that are widely shared and discussed on social media. The Gala serves as a platform for fashion designers to showcase their work and for celebrities to make bold fashion statements.
The event also raises millions of dollars for the Costume Institute. In 2023 it raised US$17.4 million. This financial support helps fund exhibitions, acquisitions and other initiatives.
The annual guest list is limited to approximately 650 or 700 people, and an invitation to attend is not the end of the story. You need to pay to play – and the current ticket price at US$75,000 per person is not for the faint-hearted.
The 2015 Gala and its theme “China: Through the Looking Glass” became the subject of a documentary – The First Monday in May, directed by Andrew Rossi. Over 200 approved photographers, reporters and social media participants documented the event as contributors. All other attendees were forbidden from using social media at the event.
This “No Selfie Rule” was extended to the following editions of the gala. Despite this mandate some attendees have established as a tradition the taking of an annual selfie in the bathroom. Given their spontaneity, they are arguably the most interesting Met Gala images of all.
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