The 2024 Met Gala returned on the first Monday of May with the annual celebration of the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibition, which was titled as “Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion” for this year. The guests were dressed to the theme of “The Garden of Time”, inspired by James Graham Ballard’s short story with the same name.
Every year, many celebrities get invited to this renowned event that takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which also gives the name to the event. The museum will include an exhibition from 10th of May to 2nd of September 2024, and it will feature 250 historically important items, which are referred to as the “sleeping beauties” – these pieces are generally too fragile to be worn again, so that they will be able to “breathe new life” through the exhibition. There will be original designs of Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent as well as Hubert de Givenchy, giving visitors the chance to see original pieces from the designers and the founders of today’s most well known high-end brands. Observing these items will give an insight into the changes of the styles of these brands throughout their history. Moreover, technology is effectively used for this exhibition as well, making the exhibition different from the other usual exhibitions. Artificial intelligence, computer generated pictures, X-rays and also soundscapes are included in order to enhance the visitors’ experiences.
Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute, said “Fashion is one of the most emotional artistic forms because of its connection to the body,” and added “It is imbued with memory and emotions, and we relate to it very much via our senses. One thing I hope this show will activate is that sensorial appreciation of fashion.”, expressing his thoughts and feelings on the event clearly.
This gala also works as a fundraising event, whereas not everyone can enter it. Since this is the fashion world’s biggest night, it is exclusive and only around 400 people get invited to the prestigious event. Wealthy celebrities and brands snap up all the available tickets at the charity benefit. In 1995, when the first Met Gala took place, a ticket cost only 1000 dollars. However, today an individual ticket goes for around 75000 dollars, which is a huge amount of money which helped the gala to raise 22 million dollars last year.
Anna Wintour is the main mastermind behind the gala. She is a British editor and she is currently, since 1988, serving as the editor in chief of American Vogue magazine, becoming one of the most powerful names in fashion. She has served as the co-chair of the event for most of the years since 1995 and today, she is the chair. This year, Anna Wintour recruited four big names as her co-chairs to serve during the event. These 4 people were celebrities that are well-known: Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and Chris Hemsworth; and this was also the debut of Chris Hemsworth in the gala. Co-chairs’ duties include the promotion of the event, the planning of the theme as well as the dinner and they arrive at the beginning of its red carpet portion. There were also two honorary chairs: Shou Zi Chew, the chief executive of TikTok and Jonathan Anderson, the creative director of the Loewe’s fashion house. As well as being honorary chairs, TikTok and Loewe also sponsored the gala and exhibition.
Some celebrities that attended the gala were Rihanna, Kendall Jenner, Nicki Minaj, Gigi Hadid, Elle Fanning, Kylie Jenner, Donatella Versace, Jennie, Usher, Jennie, Sabrina Carpenter, Stray Kids and many more people. The most recognizable dress probably came from Tyla, as she wore a body cast made up of sand for the event and since she was not able to move and walk easily. Therefore, she was carried up the stairs by several men.
Despite all the nice dresses and looks, there people stated that it was an issue that there were no mention of Gaza at the event. Generally any sartorial statement about what was happening beyond the red carpet was not present. The nearby chants of protesters did nothing to pierce the vacuum as well. It is told to be “really dystopian” by several names. Venetia La Manna, a campaigner for fair fashion, said that “Fashion is inherently political. Clothing is political. Fabrics are political. It’s art, right?” pointing out the situation. Even if it is not too common for the celebrities to select their dresses to raise awareness, it was expected to these many people who have the power to influence numerous people to dress to protest.
All in all, the 2024 Met Gala took place with many amazing dresses and the attendance of celebrities. The leading gala of the fashion world was once again so colorful with dresses from many brands including but not limited to Prada, Balmain, Givenchy, Loewe, Margiela and Oscar de la Renta.