From Met Gala to Met Gala
Coming off the high of the Fashion Club 2024 Met Gala at the McMullen Museum of Art, I can’t help but think about the event that influenced our own…. The beloved Met Gala. The fashion event of the year where the creme de la creme comes to be judged and scrutinized on a 100 foot stairway by the entire world.
To those who don’t know, every first Monday of May the A-listers of the World flock to New York City to attend the ever prestigious Met Gala, a fundraiser looking to make money for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tickets to the event cost upwards of $50,000, and to buy a full table costs a whopping $300,000; this is not the kind of event where you can score a last minute ticket that’s for sure! This year the Met is coming off its VERY controversial theme last year honoring Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. Karl Lagerfeld was a problematic person throughout his life; while a very talented designer that was able to reinvent every fashion house he was apart of he also was very fatphobic, homophobic, and against the #MeToo Movement. The celebration of a man like that was controversial to say the least, and was rather disappointing in the fashion it brought out as well. For this year’s Met Gala they have something to prove, and they better come back with a vengeance.
Lets get into the details of this years Met Gala:
The Chairs: A coveted position that in actuality has no real consequence besides the heightened scrutiny. This years crop includes J- Lo (hopefully you won’t need to know her bodega order in order to attend #ifykyk), Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, and the fashionista icon herself, Zendaya.
The Theme: Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening of Fashion, with a dress code as described as “a garden of time”; and a reawakening we are hoping to have. These past couple of years, the Met Gala has felt lackluster at best, with themes that brought out nothing special to the colored steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: it was quite the disappointment. Last year’s Met Gala, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, was nothing worth noting. This year however the theme has the opportunity to bring out some beautiful interpretations that I am excited to see; and with both Rihanna and Zendaya’s confirmed attendance we know at least these two women will give us a look to remember.
So what will I personally be looking forward to at this year's MetGala… I want it to look like we took cottage core to the fashion houses of Paris. The official dress code has been noted as “The Garden of Time”, and so I want it to go back to the secret garden! The MET has quoted the actual exhibit as “visually united by iconography related to nature, which will serve as a metaphor for the fragility and ephemerality of fashion…”; via this description I feel this Met Gala may be one to rival the 2018 Heavenly Bodies.
Now as we plebians patiently await the carpet to be rolled out, I want to take a look at some designers who I feel might stand out during this year's MetGala:
Alexander McQueen
Maison Margiela
Iris Van Herpen
Jean Paul Gaultier
Dior
Versace
I think these brands know how to dress on theme, and something about this theme to me feels as though it fits with the recent fashions that they’ve been sending down their various runways, and red carpets. I will be keeping an eye out for any Margiela, after their 2024 Spring Couture show that sent the world into a spiral they will forever be on my radar.
Some brands that I’m scared to see include:
Louis Vouitton
Thom Browne
Gucci
Ralph Lauren
These brands have gorgeous collections and some even have a pretty decent record in terms of archival MetGala looks, but I feel with the theme for this year these are the brands I feel that would struggle the most with the interpretation of the style that I feel should be emphasized in this MetGala. A lot of these brands in my “Not so Favorite” List have such strong brand essence that may not translate well in the garden, cottage core pink atmosphere of this year's Met Gala. I have included below my own personal mood board for the 2024 Met Gala which I hope will not disappoint.