There is a lot of anticipation for what will be presented at this year’s Met Gala on May 4, an evening where fashion and art meet.
Every year, Vogue hosts its annual charity fundraiser, the Met Gala, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
This invitation-only event helps fund the Met’s costume institute, department exhibitions, operations and acquisitions. During the event, the grand reveal of its annual spring exhibition is showcased, which influences the theme invitees must reflect in their fashion choices for the night.
This year’s theme for the Met Gala is “Costume Art,” with guests following the “Fashion is Art” dress code. The theme of the Met Gala describes what the exhibition is showcasing, while the dress code states how guests are expected to design their attire.
The annual exhibition will be held in the Condé M. Nast Galleries, a newly inaugurated 12,000 square foot space adjacent to The Great Hall at the Met. The new gallery will reshape how fashion is viewed within the museum, serving as the primary space dedicated to clothing as art.
This year’s exhibition centers on the dressed body, contrasting garments and different works of art from the museum’s collection, which will focus on the relationship between clothing and art.
Outfits worn at the Met Gala are collaboratively designed by luxury brands and the attendees themselves. Givenchy, Schiaparelli, Chanel, Balmain, Versace and Louis Vuitton are some high-end brands that people wait all night to see. But along with these fashion brands, independent designers like Raul Lopez and Elena Velez were also invited to showcase their designs.
Some of the past Met Gala themes include the 2019 “Camp: Notes on Fashion” theme, which was inspired by Susan Sontag’s essay “Notes on Camp.” The dress code encouraged an exploration of exaggeration, artifice, irony and humor in fashion, a playful nod to “bad taste.”
Another past theme in 2024 was, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” with the dress code theme being “The Garden of Time,” inspired by the short story written by J.G. Ballard.
It was a self-explanatory expectancy of fashion choices that included botanical motifs, beauty and themes of preservation and decay.