The Met Gala returned on Monday evening, marking the opening of the Costume Institute’s new 12,000-square-foot home, the Condé Nast Galleries. With the exhibition “Costume Art” exploring depictions of the dressed body, guests were asked to interpret the dress code “Fashion is Art.” The event, often described as fashion’s Oscars, brought together a host of celebrities, with Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams serving as co-chairs alongside Anna Wintour.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, who provided the majority of funding for both the exhibition and the gala, were named honorary chairs. Their involvement drew criticism from activist groups, with anti-Bezos posters appearing near the museum and on the subway, alongside calls for a boycott. Protests were also expected outside the event itself. The couple’s presence underscored a growing tech presence at the gala, with Meta, Snapchat, OpenAI, ShopMy and Amazon all purchasing tables, leading some to dub the occasion the “tech gala.”
Individual tickets were priced at around $100,000, up from $75,000 last year, with tables fetching upwards of $300,000. Despite the price tag, every guest still requires personal approval from Wintour. Last year’s event raised a record $31m, and organisers will be hoping this year’s edition surpasses that figure.
The host committee, led by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoe Kravitz, included Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Consani, Misty Copeland, Teyana Taylor, A’ja Wilson, Chase Sui Wonder and Sam Smith. As ever, members of the Kardashian-Jenner family were expected on the steps. Notable by their absence was New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who said he preferred to focus on making the city more affordable, a departure from his predecessors’ attendance.
Guests were encouraged to “express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form,” leading to speculation of bold looks ranging from naked dressing to wearable homages to classic artworks. Previous Met Galas have seen Jared Leto dress as a cat and Katy Perry arrive as a chandelier, and this year’s theme promised no shortage of artistic interpretation.
