From a fashionable party to a global phenomenon. New York has the legendary Met Gala behind it

The first Monday in May has become a pop culture symbol. Every year, on the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the world’s most famous celebrities compete to see who will be the most talked about the next day. Attracting more and more attention each year, the Met Gala has become a cultural icon over the past decade, whose significance far exceeds its origins. The party, the pretext of which is a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, has become an important part of the marketing of design brands as well as a creator of cultural moments.

Although the evening is more commonly referred to as the Met Ball or Met Gala, the event is officially known as the Costume Institute Gala. The first gala in 1948 was a midnight dinner hosted by fashion columnist Eleanor Lambert along with Dorothy Shaver, president of Lord & Taylor, a New York-based fashion retailer. Back then, the Met Gala was advertised as the party of the year and tickets cost fifty dollars. Within a few years, the price doubled, and by 2023 it had risen to fifty thousand dollars per piece and three hundred thousand dollars per table.

Initially, the evening was held in November or December at various locations in New York, such as the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center or the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Each year had its own theme, which, however, did not have to be the same as the theme of the simultaneous exhibition at the Costume Institute, as is the case today. The guests were mostly people from the fashion industry and New York society. The entertainment included skits, a raffle and a parade during which models dressed in historical costumes.

Diana Vreeland, the then editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, came up with themed evenings in the 1970s, who, among other things, worked as a consultant to the Costume Institute. The first topic was a retrospective of the work of designer Cristóbal Balenciaga in 1973, a year after his death. Among the important themes of this era is the exhibition of costumes with a Russian theme, for which the famous fashion editor was dressed in Slavic clothing. Important cultural moments include the evening with the theme of old Hollywood, when the singer Cher came dressed from head to toe in fringe.

Since 1972, the event has been held at the Metropolitan Museum, with dinner and dancing taking place in various parts of it. Several galleries were also open during the party for guests to view the exhibits. Vreeland also began adapting the theme of the party to the exhibition, introducing more opulent decor with over-the-top touches, such as theme-related perfume being pumped into the galleries. In addition, the guest list became more celebrity oriented. Among the participants were, for example, the artist Andy Warhol or the pop singers Diana Ross and Cher. Vreeland continued to work with the Costume Institute until her death in 1989 and is credited with turning the event into a glamorous party that helped attract record numbers of visitors to the exhibitions.

The reign of Anna Wintour

After Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour took over the organization of the party in 1995, the gala grew to feature leading figures from film, sports and music. As writer Amy Odell wrote for TIME in 2022, the party is not only a celebration of the Costume Institute, but also a celebration of Wintour’s dominance in the industry. Thanks to the influence of the current editor-in-chief, the Met Gala has become one of the most exclusive annual fashion events. In the mid-2000s, the gala’s date was changed to the first Monday in May.

Getting to the Met Gala isn’t easy. Unless you’re an actress, model, musician, Vogue editor, sidekick to an A-list star, or rich enough to donate hundreds of thousands to the Met Museum to become a sponsor, it’s not easy. While the curator of the Costume Institute selects the exhibition each year, Wintour oversees all the details of the gala and signs them off. In addition to paying for the ticket, all guests need her approval to attend the evening.

In recent years, Wintour has also instituted new rules, such as banning selfies and using social media, except on the red carpet, and limiting guests to those over the age of eighteen. In addition, he hires famous performers for the musical accompaniment of the event, including Florence and the Machine, Blondie, Kanye West, Lenny Kravitz and Lizzo. Each year, four celebrities are chosen to serve as hosts of the evening along with Wintour. This year, Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hamsworth and rapper Bad Bunny took up the role.

Support for the arts

The gala evening creates a direct connection between art and fashion and attracts the attention of those who are enthusiastic about costume and fashion design, as well as those who are not familiar with it. Without the Met Gala, the Costume Institute would not be able to support itself. Formerly the Museum of Costume Art, founded by philanthropist Irene Lewisohn, it merged with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1946, but remains the only department that must raise its own funds. This is perhaps due to questions about whether fashion is actually considered an art form. Exhibitions, as well as the employees of the institute, the conservation of costumes and the maintenance of the archive, numbering more than thirty-five thousand items from the last six hundred years, are supported by patron contributions to the gala evenings.

Although today the Met Gala seems to be just a celebrity show, its purpose remains the same, and that is to support the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In terms of attendance, the most successful exhibition was associated with the 2018 Celestial Bodies gala, which was visited by one and a half million visitors. In 2023, the Met Gala brought in nearly twenty-two million dollars thanks to the Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty theme, making it the highest-grossing gala since its inception.

Red carpet marketing

The red carpet, this year green because of the theme, and its grand staircase, a beacon of status and power, provide a global platform for promotion, although the course of the exclusive event itself is strictly confidential. Unlike the Oscars or the Grammys, the Met Gala is not televised, meaning exposure depends on social media content. The most glamorous addition to the Met Gala is its marketing.

The gala evening has become the pinnacle of art and popular culture, providing an opportunity for brands to establish contacts with the most experienced customers and to use their strong charitable image. In fact, the entire commercial or promotional side of the event is quite well hidden under the philanthropic theme.

Admittedly, the stunning haute couture creations we see adorning the steps of the museum are completely out of the price range of the average consumer. However, it’s not just luxury fashion and beauty brands that use the festive event to their advantage. It doesn’t have to be reflected directly in the clothes of individual guests, but, for example, as sponsors. In the past, the Met Gala has been sponsored by, for example, Apple, Condé Nast, H&M and Warner Bros. IBM, which collaborated with the Marchesa company on a smart dress worn by the Czech model Karolína Kurková, made the headlines most prominently.

Pop culture moments

Sometimes the theme of the evening is very broad, such as in 2021 America: A Lexicon of Fashion, but once every few years it is dedicated to a specific personality. For example, last year the exhibition and therefore the dress code was dedicated to the late icon of the fashion world, Karl Lagerfeld. Sometimes clothes seem to reflect the life situations of their wearers. For example, at the 1996 Met Gala, stylists considered Princess Diana’s lingerie-inspired silk blue dress a revenge dress because she wore it the same year she divorced then-Prince Charles. Many will surely remember how in 2018 Rihanna took to the red carpet dressed as the Pope or her almost five meter long embroidered cape that she brought out three years earlier.

Despite a strict photography ban, celebrities, editors and bloggers are flooding their social media profiles with content from the gala so the world can see what they’re missing out on. Users can usually follow a special thread with the hashtag MetGala . Its influence lasts long after the champagne bottles have been emptied. The public has long recovered from the moment when Solange Knowles, Beyoncé’s sister, was caught on elevator cameras slapping her husband, the rapper Jay Z. Other significant moments, this time with political overtones, included the white dress of American Democratic politician Alexandria Osasio-Cortez with with the red inscription “Tax the Rich”, that is, Tax the rich, which caused a huge wave of discussions mainly because she showed up in them at an event that only really rich people can participate in.

The latest fashion-culture moments from the steps of the museum, where party-goers pose for photos, include actor Billy Porter’s all-gold costume brought in by four men on a golden tray, and Kim Kardashian’s controversial attempt to gain even more attention by wearing an original Marilyn dress Monroe, in which she sang to President Kennedy on his birthday. Due to the age and different sizes of these women, the iconic piece of clothing was destroyed. This year’s theme was Sleeping Beauties: The Reawakening of Fashion, and among the pop culture references, the sand dress from the Balmain brand, worn by the singer Tyla, or the giant white wet T-shirt worn by the rapper Doja Cat at the gala will definitely be included.