Met Gala

The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala was and still is popularly regarded as the world's most prestigious and glamorous fashion event. Attendees are given the opportunity to express themselves through fashion, often producing elaborate and highly publicized outfits inspired by the evening's theme and broader cultural context. This event is advertised by Vogue. The event is known as "fashion's biggest night", where "haute couture intersects with history to create the ultimate cultural moment – all in the name of art"; an invitation is highly sought after. Personalities who are perceived to be culturally relevant to contemporary society amongst various professional spheres, including fashion, film, television, music, theater, business, sports, tech, social media, and politics, are invited to attend the Met Gala, organized by the fashion magazine '' Vogue''.

The Gala is an event held annually on the first Monday of May, which marks the opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit hosted on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Many of the attendees are depicted on the covers and pages of ''Vogue''. Each year's event celebrates the specific theme of that year's Costume Institute exhibition, which sets the tone for the formal attire of the night.

Guests are expected to curate their fashions to match the theme of the annual exhibit, generally in haute couture. Fashion executive Anna Wintour, who is the editor-in-chief of ''Vogue'', has chaired or co-chaired the Met Gala since 1995, except for the 1996 Met Gala, which was chaired by Wintour's successor at British ''Vogue'', Liz Tilberis, who attended with her friend Diana, Princess of Wales. Over time, the Met Gala has evolved beyond the New York fashion epicenter to become increasingly global and diverse in its perspective and scope.

The entry price for one ticket to attend the Met Gala has risen to US$75,000 in 2024, an increase from $50,000 in 2023, to attend the annual gala in the financial, media, and fashion capital of New York City. In 2023, software company Launchmetrics found that the Met Gala generated nearly double the "media impact value" (the monetary value of publicity generated) for brands than the Super Bowl, at US$995 million. In 2024, the Met Gala's figure rose to $1.4 billion. Notwithstanding the historical dominance of American and Western European fashion designers represented, the Met Gala continues to evolve into a more international platform, with progressively increasing representation of celebrities and designers from outside the Western hemisphere.

History

The Met Gala was established in 1948 by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert as a fundraiser for the newly founded Costume Institute to mark the opening of its annual exhibit. The first gala comprised a dinner, and tickets were 50 dollars each. Over the first few decades of its existence, the Gala was simply one of many annual benefits held for New York charitable institutions. Accordingly, the attendees of the early Galas comprised almost entirely members of New York high society or the city's fashion industry. From 1948 to 1971, the event was held at various Manhattan venues, including the Waldorf Astoria, Central Park, and the Rainbow Room.

When Diana Vreeland became consultant to the Costume Institute in 1972, the Gala began to evolve into a more global and glamorous affair, although one that was still aimed at the local New York high-societal set. The event started to become higher profile celebrity-oriented with attendees like Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger, Diana Ross, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, and Cher intermixing with the city's elite. It was during the Vreeland years that the Gala was first held at the Met and that Gala themes were introduced.

The Met Gala has since evolved to become widely regarded as the most prominent, glamorous, and exclusive social event in the world. It is also one of the biggest fundraising nights in New York City, with US$9 million raised in 2013, $12 million the following year, and a record $17.4 million by 2022. The Met Gala is one of the most notable sources of funding for the institute, with total contributions surpassing $200 million for the first time after the 2019 event. Anna Wintour, the chairperson of the event, assumed the chairmanship of the Institute in 1995. Her guest list grew to include celebrities globally from the worlds of fashion, entertainment, business, sports, and politics who would eventually grace the pages of ''Vogue''.

Since 1948, the Met Gala has taken place consecutively each year, except in 1957, 2000, 2002, and in 2020, when the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Gala resumed in 2021, but was held in September rather than in May that year. In 2022, the Gala returned to holding its traditional May ceremony.

Present day

The Met Costume Institute Gala is the globally renowned, haute couture fundraising spectacle that serves as an opening celebration for the institute's annual fashion exhibit. Following the event, the exhibition runs for several months. For example, the 2014 exhibition was scheduled to run from May 8 until August 10, 2014.

The affair, historically attended by personalities from the arts, fashion, high-society, film, and music, has been held at the Met since 1948 and is considered to be the global fashion industry's premier annual red carpet event, and as such, promotes haute couture themes and styles. However, the Met Gala has evolved over time to include culturally impactful tastemakers, influencers, and icons from all dimensions of the human existence, including sports, technology, business, and politics as well. The event's red carpet fashions are widely photographed, reviewed, critiqued, and emulated. The museum is closed to the general public on the first Monday of May to facilitate the Gala's festivities.

Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of ''Vogue'' and the lead chairperson of the Gala event since 1995 (excluding 1996 and 1998), oversees both the benefit committee and the guest list, with ''Vogue'' staffers helping to assemble the list of invitees. In 2014, the individual tickets cost US$30,000 for those outside the official guest list, after prices were raised by $10,000 to increase the exclusivity of the event. The annual guest list is limited to approximately 650-700 people. Starting in the 2020s, the Met Gala has started including social-media influencers. The cost of a seat per guest to attend the Met Gala rose to US$50,000 by 2023, and to $75,000 in 2024.

The 2015 Gala and its theme of ''"China: Through the Looking Glass"'' became the subject of a documentary—'' The First Monday in May'', directed by Andrew Rossi and produced by Condé Nast Entertainment, ''Vogue'', and Relativity Studios. A total of 225 approved photographers, reporters, and social media participants documented the event for the documentary. All other attendees were forbidden from using social media at the event. Guests received notices about the restriction of selfies and social media inside the gala. The no-selfie ordinance was extended to the following editions of the Met Gala. Despite the existing "No Selfie Rule," celebrities including Billie Eilish, Dakota Johnson, and Kylie Jenner have started the tradition of taking an annual selfie in the Met bathroom. These pictures have become viral for their eclectic grouping of celebrities who are rarely seen in the same room as each other.

A no-smoking rule had to be added to the Met Gala bathroom after images of Bella Hadid surfaced smoking in the Met bathroom in 2017, the rule enforced for public health and safety reasons.

As of 2018, Wintour announced that guests may not be allowed to attend the gala when younger than the age of 18.

At the 2021 Met Gala, Rosé became the first artist from the K-pop girl group BLACKPINK to attend; she made her debut with a custom Little Black Dress. Since then, multiple BLACKPINK artists have appeared at the Gala. TikTok star Addison Rae also made her first appearance the same year, marking the increasing trend of social media influencer invitees.

The 2025 Met Gala took place on Monday, May 5, hosted by Anna Wintour with co-hosts Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams. The honorary co-chair LeBron James was unable to attend due to a knee injury sustained during the National Basketball Association playoff season, but his wife Savannah James attended on his behalf. At the 2025 Met Gala, Shah Rukh Khan, accompanied by celebrity fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, became the first male Bollywood star to ascend the renowned stairs, although fashion designer Manish Malhotra and Bollywood actresses including Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, Kiara Advani, and Deepika Padukone have made appearances at the Gala, along with Indian-American actress Mindy Kaling as well as Indian tycoon heiress Isha Ambani and fashion icon Natasha Poonawalla.

Theme

The exhibit is assigned a specific theme each year, with guests being expected but not mandated to follow. It includes a cocktail hour and a formal dinner. During the cocktail hour, guests arrive to walk on the red carpet, tour the year's special themed exhibition, and be seated before the dinner party that includes entertainment from the preeminent entertainers of the day. The theme not only sets the tone for the annual exhibit, but also for the guests who attempt to dress in conjunction with the theme of the year, oftentimes causing runs on certain fashion themes among the world's leading fashion retailers.

Sometimes, such as in 2013, with Punk: Chaos to Couture, the theme given is considered unclear or difficult to follow because it does not provide a clear stylistic directive. At other times, including in 2014, with Charles James: Beyond Fashion, the theme may be far more challenging for one gender, as James made clothing intended for women. Although, according to Vogue in 2021 Met Gala: American Fashion, Andrew Bolton was "really impressed by American designers’ responses to the social and political climate, particularly around issues of body inclusivity and gender fluidity".

The 2025 gala focused on Black dandyism.

Controversies

Models Naomi Campbell and Stephanie Seymour pulled out of attending the 2009 Met Gala at the last minute, in a show of support for designer Azzedine Alaïa. After discovering that none of his work was included in the Costume Institute exhibit, Alaïa asked the models not to wear the dresses he had designed for them to the Gala and they chose not to attend altogether. Alaïa was well-known for having close relationships with his models, and his exclusion from the "Model as Muse" exhibit was seen as a snub. He criticized Wintour (with whom he had a longtime feud) for having "too much power over this museum."

In 2014, the theme was "Charles James: Beyond Fashion," when the Met Gala announced a dress code requiring white tie, a number of media outlets pointed out the difficulty and expense of obtaining traditional white tie, even for the celebrity guests. The Gala was disturbed by a streaker who wasn't able to make it up the stairs but nevertheless caused a commotion. This was followed by a fight in the elevator at the after party between Solange Knowles and Jay-Z. Security tape showed Solange speaking angrily to Jay-Z (the husband of her sister Beyoncé) before hitting and kicking him.

In 2015, the Gala's theme, originally named "Chinese Whispers: Tales of the East in Art, Film and Fashion," was renamed to "China: Through the Looking Glass." The theme was met with critics saying it was "A reminder of the subtle institutionalized racism that's been compounded by centuries of Asian isolationism across the board, and enduring Western stereotypes exacerbated by ignorance and the meme-able nature of social media." One of the most criticized actresses was Sarah Jessica Parker, who wore a headdress which was thought to conform to the Dragon Lady stereotype.

In October 2017, an episode of James Corden's '' Late Late Show'' aired a segment with Anna Wintour where she said President Donald Trump was banned from the Met Gala. Despite his consecutive appearances from 2004 to 2012, he became the first celebrity to ever be banned from attending.

The 2018 Gala had a Roman Catholic theme. In attendance, Rihanna wore a pearl and jewel-encrusted robe, matching papal mitre and necklace, Christian Louboutin heels, an outfit designed by Maison Margiela. Critics on social media called it "blasphemous" and "sacrilegious cosplay," even though the Catholic Church lent more than forty papal vestments from the Vatican for the exhibition, and Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan attended. American critic Kyle Smith argued that the Catholic Church was in fact "abetting the mockery of its symbols."

The 2021 Met Gala theme was "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion." The American theme of the gala allowed celebrities to go in many different directions with how they chose to embody the theme. Democratic U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York attended the 2021 Met Gala dressed by designer Aurora James. Ocasio-Cortez's controversial look was bold and targeted the attendees of the Met; she wore a white off-the-shoulder gown with the phrase "tax the rich" sewn onto the back in bold red satin lettering. This look faced controversy as many thought it was hypocritical to condemn wealth inequality while attending an event with a $35,000 ticket. In an interview, designer Aurora James explains how she thinks it smart to be able to deliver the message directly to those who need to hear it.

In 2022, with the theme of "Gilded Glamour", Kim Kardashian wore the gown Marilyn Monroe wore when singing " Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy in 1962. The gown is the property of Ripley's Believe It or Not. The controversy around the gown started when some noticed some damage to the gown. Other controversies came from the diet that Kim Kardashian had to adhere to in order to wear the gown. She claimed to have cut out all sugar and carbs, resulting in 16 lbs lost in 3 weeks.

In 2024, the Met Gala was the flashpoint for the Blockout 2024 online social media campaign to block the accounts of celebrities who attended the event. The appearance of attendees after recent university campus war protests related to the Gaza–Israel conflict and the ongoing Rafah offensive caused many to compare the celebrities to those in ''The Hunger Games''. In an opinion piece for ''USA Today'', columnist Nicole Russell compared the Met Gala to ''The Hunger Games''' wealthy Capitol, and the rest of the United States and the world to the Districts of Panem which "struggle with consequences like poverty, inflation, homelessness and even war". The 2024 Met Gala hosts included Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and actor Chris Hemsworth. The 2025 dress code is "''Superfine: Tailoring Black Style''".

At the 2025 Met Gala, red carpet interviewers Ego Nwodim and Teyana Taylor appeared to be unaware of internationally renowned Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and his stature. Khan's fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee stepped in and afforded the interviewers the appropriate context in the otherwise good-natured interview, even noting that there had been nearly a "stampede" of fans waiting outside Shah Rukh Khan's New York hotel. The perceived lack of adequate recognition of Bollywood celebrity by Western media at the Gala generated widespread criticism in South Asia and the Middle East. In regard to the controversy, ''Vogue'' responded that there was no intention to ignore or slight anyone. Notwithstanding this oversight, the Met Gala continues to evolve into a more international platform, with significantly increasing representation of celebrities and designers from outside the Western hemisphere.

List of Met Galas

The following is a list of Met Galas, as well as the chairs and entertainment, for the Galas that have taken place since themes were introduced in 1973.

See also

* ''Caput Mundi''
* LGBT culture in New York City
* ''Ocean's 8''
* '' The First Monday in May''
* ''TIME 100''
* Vogue World 2024

References

External links

Official website

{{Metropolitan Museum of Art

1948 establishments in New York City
Annual events in New York City
Balls in the United States
Fashion events in the United States
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Recurring events established in 1948
Vogue (magazine)