A Comprehensive Guide to this Year’s Met Gala
This year's Met Gala theme is "Heavenly Bodies" - but, like most years of the Met Gala, many are still finding the theme’s message and purpose lost in translation. An event shrouded in taffeta, glitter, and secrecy, it's hard to say what exactly goes on inside- but at least we have the red carpet to look at. So, let's unravel what exactly this year's most prestigious event in fashion will entail, and what you yourself need to keep your eyes peeled for.
What exactly is the Met Gala?
The Met Gala is the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art's annual fundraiser for their Costume Institute and has always been hosted in the heart of New York City. An invitation-only affair helmed by the fashion world's HBIC Anna Wintour, it's a heavily elite event; for instance, only 600 people were invited to last year's event- oh, and even after you were invited, you had to fork over $30k. Through this, the gala has also been called anything from "the Oscars of the east coast" to- in publicist Paul Wilmot's words- "an A.T.M. for the Met." In 2017, approximately $12 million was raised, so maybe Wilmot's right on this one.
When is this year's Met Gala, anyway?
The Met Gala is routinely held the first Monday in May. This year, it'll be on May 7th.
What's the deal with the theme?
This year's theme is Heavenly Bodies, which explores the intersection of fashion's relationship with the Catholic Church. It'll feature designs by Chanel, Galliano, Balenciaga, and over 40 pieces on loan from the Vatican itself. A theme rooted in controversy, the exhibition's head curator, Andrew Bolton, told the New York Times last fall: “We know it could be controversial for right-wing or conservative Catholics and for liberal Catholics," but then later continued that the theme will focus on "a shared hypothesis about what we call the Catholic imagination and the way it has engaged artists and designers and shaped their approach to creativity, as opposed to any kind of theology or sociology.”
Real talk: who's hosting?
Many people have been invited to host the event in the past- anyone ranging from Idris Elba to Taylor Swift, for starters. This year, it'll be Donatella Versace, Amal Clooney, and the next emperor of the United States, Rihanna. We like to think that Rihanna's groundbreaking 2017 Rei Kawakubo-inspired Comme des Garçons gown might have promoted her to a host-level status.
Who'll be there?
An A-list event, the whos-who of stardom will be rolling out on the red carpet; previous years have seen the attendance of the Kardashians, the Hadids, the Weeknd, Zendaya, so on and so forth. But don't except a certain POTUS to be there: in an interview with James Corden, Wintour revealed that Donald Trump will not be invited to this year's gala. However, come May 7th, we'll see who dominates the gala with their Catholicism-inspired fits-- and who'll end up missing the mark.