The Met Gala, fashion’s most anticipated event, is set to take place on May 6, 2024, with a theme that promises to blend the fantastical with the historical: “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”
The event raises millions of dollars for the museum’s self-funding fashion wing and is the year’s highlight for A-listers who scramble to be invited by the “grande dame” of fashion, Anna Wintour, the longtime Vogue editor and Condé Nast executive.
While normally most of the drama is created on the red carpet, with the celebrities’ outrageous fashions, this year the drama has preceded the event and taken place in the boardrooms.
The union representing employees of Condé Nast publications including Bon Appétit, GQ, Vanity Fair and Vogue escalated the stakes in its long-running contract negotiations on Saturday, telling the company in a video posted on X that if management didn’t meet the union at the bargaining table, its members would “meet you at the Met,” setting up the possibility of a picket line during Vogue’s biggest night. A representative from the New York Police Department said that there were no street closures planned and that the police would have “an adequate security deployment.”
In the meantime, the attention is riveted on the fashion. This year’s theme is a nod to the delicate and often untouchable pieces that will be showcased in the spring exhibition, which opens shortly after the Gala on May 10. The exhibition will feature around 250 pieces, some of which are so fragile they cannot be worn again, symbolizing the “sleeping beauties” of fashion’s past.
Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s curator, wrote in an essay about the exhibition, “The extreme fragility of these garments precludes them from being dressed on a mannequin, so in the exhibition they are displayed flat in glass cases to prevent further deterioration.”
The event, known for its exclusive guest list of A-list celebrities from various fields, including film, fashion, music, sports, and even politics, will be co-hosted by luminaries such as Zendaya and Jennifer Lopez, who are known for their iconic fashion statements.
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As the world eagerly anticipates the red carpet arrivals, the event will be live-streamed for fans to witness the grandeur and creativity that define the Met Gala. This year’s dress code, “The Garden of Time,” is expected to inspire a myriad of nature-inspired designs, with celebrities and designers bringing their interpretation of botanical beauty to the prestigious steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Met Gala continues to be a celebration of fashion as an art form, where the historical significance of the garments is as important as their aesthetic appeal. The event not only honors the craftsmanship and creativity of designers but ensures the preservation and curation of fashion history for future generations.
As the countdown to the Gala begins, the anticipation builds for an evening that will surely be remembered for its opulence, innovation, and homage to the timeless beauty of fashion. But hopefully, it will not be remembered for the disruption brought by contract negotiations.
