The biggest fashion event of the year, the Met Gala, was held on Monday, May 6 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
An exclusive list of celebrities from the areas of fashion, film, music, and art attended this event, uniting for this night.
This event has been traditionally held on the first Monday of May since 1948, when it was founded by Eleanor Lambert. It was created to encourage donations from New York’s high society to the museum. The Met Gala has been chaired by Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, since 1995.
PV senior Mary Klingelhoefer explained the reason why the Met Gala is the grandest event in the fashion industry. “I think it’s the year’s most anticipated event because it has some of the most loved people of the world wearing the newest and most avant-garde fashion,” she said.
Every year, Wintour decides who her co-chairs will be; there are plenty of options to choose from, as there are many public figures willing to hold this position. Past co-chairs have been Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, to name a few. For the 2019 Met Gala, Wintour selected Harry Styles, Lady Gaga, Serena Williams, and Alessandro Michele to host alongside her.
This event is centered around the grand unveiling of the exhibition that is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As the Met Gala event revolves around the exhibit, it focuses on the theme of the exhibit as well. The expectation of this event is for guests invited to wear fashion that follows the theme.
The 2019 Met Gala’s theme was “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” This theme was based on an essay written by Susan Sontag entitled “Notes on ‘Camp’”. In this essay, she elaborates upon the meaning of “camp” and of what it represents. “The essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration,” Sontag wrote.
Klingelhoefer shared her thoughts on this year’s theme. “I think they could have chosen a better theme. I think the Met Gala is already to the max, so making the theme ‘camp’ wasn’t all that unusual,” she said. People that attend the Met Gala typically wear extravagant, high fashion to showcase their designer and themselves in front of the millions watching.
Following the bold theme, many wore interesting costumes to the Met Gala. Some wore daring makeup such as Ezra Miller, with eyes drawn all over his face. Others made their entrance spectacular; Billy Porter was carried into the event by six men. Lady Gaga impressed by having not one, but four different outfits. Zendaya brought a fairytale to life by wearing dress that lit up, symbolizing the Disney princess Cinderella.
This prestigious event showcases a variety of talent, specifically in the fashion industry. The Met Gala is an event hosted for those of high society and allows donations that benefit the Met’s Costume Institute.
