Do you know why the Met Gala takes place every year?
Not about (JUST) dressing up and getting clicked by a million paparazzi.
The fashion world equivalent of the Oscars- The Mets. So everyone must have seen the exciting, glamorous and let’s just say quirky outfits at this year’s Met Gala. Do you know why it happens?
It’s not just about dressing up and getting clicked by a million paparazzi. Who would have thought right? Don’t feel bad ,You are not the only person who doesn’t know why the Met actually takes place every year. Vogue published an oral history on the most glamorous gala and surprisingly a lot of celebrities and models were not aware why this big shot event actually takes place. Let me give you a brief on its history.
The Met Gala, earlier known as the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit and also known as the Met Ball, is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. Met Gala marks the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit.
Each year’s event celebrates the theme of that year’s Costume Institute exhibition, and guests are invited to the event and expected to dress themselves according to each year’s theme.
The Met Gala was established in 1948 as a way to raise money for the newly-founded Costume Institute and mark the opening of its annual exhibit. Based on the legacy left by former Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreel, since 1973.
These days, the gala is a highly commercialized, celebrity-driven media focused more on the outfits worn by each celebrity rather than the cause.
The 2021 Met gala was held as an intimate gala on September 13, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The 2021 Met gala is focused on celebrating all things American fashion. Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, felt it was time to re-examine American identity and fashion, especially as it has changed over the last several years due to both political and social justice movements.
“I’ve been really impressed by American designers’ responses to the social and political climate, particularly around issues of body inclusivity and gender fluidity, and I’m just finding their work very, very self reflective,” he mentioned in an interview with vogue.
“I really do believe that American fashion is undergoing a renaissance. I think young designers in particular are at the vanguard of discussions about diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability and transparency, much more so than their European counterparts, maybe with the exception of the English designers.”
The Costume Institute will actually present a two-part 2021 exhibit, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” and “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” Part one of the exhibition, “A Lexicon of Fashion,” will opened on September 18 at the Anna Wintour Costume Centre at the Met, marking the Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary. The exhibit will be organized to resemble a home, with intersecting walls and rooms that will establish what Bolton calls “a new vocabulary that’s more relevant and more reflective of the times in which we’re living.” Pieces from Christopher John Rogers, Sterling Ruby, Conner Ives, Prabal Gurung, and Andre Walker will be featured in part one of the exhibition.
Part two, “An Anthology of Fashion,” will open on May 5, 2022, in the period rooms of the museum’s American Wing. Bolton and the museum’s curatorial team will work with American film directors to create cinematic scenes within each room that depict a different history of American fashion.
Every year, the Met gala has a number of co chairs who help host the event. For the 2021 Met gala, Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman, and Naomi Osaka will co chair the affair, while Tom Ford, Instagram’s Adam Mosseri, and Anna Wintour served as the co chairs. You never know who’s going to show up and that makes it even more exciting.
Designers invite the celebrities who are currently popular among the masses as their guests. The Institute serves as the museum’s fashion department and is the only department in the museum that must fund itself.
Individual tickets were priced at just $1,000 when Wintour began running the event back in 1995,As per The Associated Press, tickets to attend the Met Gala cost at least $30,000.
In terms of attendees, reportedly between 500 and 600 people attend the event each year, resulting in a minimum of $15 million to possibly be made.
This years Met Gala turned heads ,presented some amazing looks and gifted a truck load of memes. Already looking forward to the next years biggest fundraising event .
