On May 6, 2024, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will host its famous Met Gala to raise funds for the Costume Institute. The event will also kick off the latest costume exhibition titled “Sleeping Beauties: Awakening Fashion,” with “The Garden of Time” as the dress code.
The institute was renovated in 2014 as the Anna Wintour Costume Center with the help of the Vogue editor-in-chief whose name appears on its doors. A Met trustee, Wintour spent decades building the gala into what the museum calls one of the “most visible and successful charitable events in the world.”
“It was a social event. People were not very enthusiastic about attending,” Wintour told ‘CBS Mornings’ co-host Gayle King in 2023. “Taking over and trying to make an evening of it was pretty daunting.”
What exactly is the Met Gala?
The Met Gala is a fundraiser that brings together some of the biggest names from the most famous industries. Guests flock to New York on the first Monday in May to show off their collaborations with famous designers and brands on looks that take months to complete.
“The Met Gala has always had a mission, to raise money for important work,” Wintour said.
Guests follow an annual theme and work to reference historical garments, incorporate innovative ideas, and execute complex concepts that resonate beyond the walls of the Met.
“We’re always looking to reflect a cultural moment and what we feel is happening in the world at any given moment,” Wintour said of the guests.
“Every year is different and we try to organize the guest list in a way that makes sense, regardless of the theme of the exhibition,” Wintour said.
It’s been the site of some notable and much-discussed pop culture highlights, from Rihanna’s 2015 arrival in a long Chinese cape, to Lady Gaga’s multifaceted revelations at the 2019 Camp-themed gala Over the past decade, fashion enthusiasts, critics and consumers have walked the red carpet in great detail to understand, through photos and videos, the effort – and sometimes mistakes – that go into preparation. of the event.
What is the inside of the Met Gala like?
Although many have walked the steps of the museum and visited its exhibits, very few have done so wearing the finest pieces to party and spend thousands (sometimes millions) among the titans of cinema, sports, business , music and society. This rarefied allure is what inspires many people to follow and dissect the gala.
Hanan Besovic, the post-pandemic viral voice behind Instagram’s @ideservecouture, will have a seat adjacent to the action. He will join a handful of influencers at the Mark Hotel — where many gala-goers are gearing up and getting ready for the event — on the day of the gala on the Upper East Side, five blocks from the Met.
There, Besovic will monitor arrivals and create social content alongside a room of other fashion-obsessed creators hosted by Meta.
As hotel guests leave their temporary hideout at the Mark after spending hours doing their hair, makeup and styling, they exit to a crowd of fans and journalists waiting for a first glimpse of their attire, before There is no time to queue in front of the museum steps.
“Everyone has a minute of attention, and then there’s the next person,” Besovic said.
Usually the first to introduce themselves are the event chairs. This year, Zendaya, Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Lopez will co-chair with Anna Wintour.
One by one, the celebrities are carefully dragged onto the carpeted steps of the Met, where thousands of international media stand ready to photograph and record from every angle. The fluid choreography is seen by what Vogue says are millions of people via its viral feeds.
What happens at the Met Gala after the red carpet?
What happens next is what drives the plot the most. Unlike what happens outside, most of what happens inside the Met is not recorded.
“These tickets are incredibly expensive. Brands are buying out the tables,” Besovic said.
It is well known that the evening includes dinner and a show. Cher, Rihanna, Madonna and Lady Gaga have performed among the world’s most sought-after and notable artists in recent years.
Vogue is usually the only publication with scoops. In 2023, they previewed the gala dinner portion, led by what they say was one of Karl Lagerfeld’s most famous gatherings: Paloma Picasso’s wedding reception.
These dishes look delicate, colorful and healthy in the Vogue images, with chilled spring pea soup and Ōra King salmon served on vintage plates with an assortment of fruits and vegetables for last year’s attendees.
Are photos allowed inside the Met Gala?
“The only clips we get are from social media,” Besovic says of the event’s exclusivity.
Viral toilet videos and selfies taken by celebrities are the only view inside. Katie Perry rushes out in her campy burger outfit for the 2019 gala after running into Jennifer Lopez near the stalls. The Kardashians posing with Paris Jackson and a host of models. Lil Nas X, Erykah Badu and Jack Harlow pose for a photo. Or celebrities post elevator videos, like the viral moment with Reese Witherspoon chatting with Cara Delevingne, Zooey Deschanel and Kate Upton. These end up being the only glimpses of the gala to go through before the regular people go to bed.
What else are they doing at the Met Gala?
When the gala ends, guests rush to the after-parties, many of which bounce around New York City all night. The Standard Hotel’s “Boom Boom Room” usually hosts stars — in 2023, singer and actress Janelle Monáe was at the helm, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
Brands and designers are also triggering more fashion moments at after-parties.
In 2016, when model Karlie Kloss came to town after the gala, American designer Brandon Maxwell adapted her after-party outfit by cutting her structured dress into a mini. This year, designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Shayne Oliver will launch a capsule collection, comprising around 50 collaborative pieces.
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