With its star-studded guest list, breathtaking outfits, and impressive array of luxury fashion houses, the Met Gala is undoubtedly the most glamorous red carpet event of the year. What started out as a simple charity dinner to fund the fashion department of the Metropolitan Museum in New York has become an unmissable showcase for luxury brands, who spare no expense in dressing the world’s most influential cultural figures.
Organized by Vogue (Condé Nast) on the first Monday in May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or Met) in New York, the Met Gala is, alongside the Cannes Film Festival, one of those events that makes everyone’s eyes sparkle.
But behind this fusion of fashion, art, and pop culture lies a fundraiser aimed at enabling the Costume Institute, the Met’s fashion department, to finance its exhibitions, the maintenance of more than 33,000 pieces, and future acquisitions. It is the only department in the museum that has to finance its own activities.
To achieve this, former editor-in-chief of Vogue USA, Anna Wintour, helped raise the ticket price, which is now largely, if not entirely, covered by the brands themselves. These brands see the “Super Bowl of fashion” as an opportunity to showcase their most beautiful haute couture creations on some of the world’s most fashionable celebrities and thus benefit from unparalleled media exposure.
In addition, the Met Gala heralds the opening of the museum’s major fashion exhibition each year, which this year is dedicated to the figure of the black dandy and the importance of clothing in black identity with Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, scheduled to run from May 10 to October 26.
Seven centuries of fashion
What was the Museum of Costume Art before its merger with the Met in 1946 was initially the brainchild of two art and theater enthusiasts, the Lewisohn sisters, who donated historical costumes to the museum in 1937.
Through their donations, Irene and Alice helped bring fashion to the museum well before Yves Saint Laurent (in 1976), thereby legitimizing the artistic dimension of the discipline.
This collection would serve as the basis for the 33,000 pieces that now make up the museum’s collections, representing seven centuries of fashion and accessories for men, women, and children, from the 15th century to the present day.
And the Met had its Gala
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Read also > [Luxus Magazine] MET Gala 2023: the best looks of the evening
Featured photo: © Metropolitan Museum New York (Met)
