By: Dominick Sanchez
The Met Gala is the most important night in the fashion industry. On the first Monday in May, Stars arrive atop the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in extravagant clothing, jewelry, and accessories that shatter the veil of reality into fantasy. The event is a remarkable spectacle to behold. The steps of the Met are draped in a luxurious red carpet as celebrities make their grand entrance in front of dozens of photographers, videographers, and an army of assistants. It’s a fabulous circus.
The event was created in 1948 as a fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. Eleanor Lambert, a Fashion publicist established the event as a fundraiser for the newly founded Costume Institute to mark the opening of its annual exhibit. The first gala was a dinner and tickets were fifty dollars each. Over the first few decades of its existence, the gala was simply one of many annual benefits held for New York charitable institutions. Accordingly, the attendees of the early galas were almost entirely members of New York high society of the city’s fashion industry. In 1973 Diana Vreeland who previously served as Vogue editor-in-chief, up until her shocking and abrupt dismissal, was offered a position at the MET after a quietly funded campaign courtesy of Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The arrival of Vreeland struck a responsive chord with Theodore Rousseau, chief curator, along with the museum’s director, Thomas Hoving. Vreeland was given free rein to raise awareness and money for the Costume Institute. She began her tenure with a bang showcasing a retrospective of the work of master Couturier Cristobal Balenciaga. The opening of the Costume Institute’s annual exhibit became the most coveted event to attend in the New York social calendar. Catalogs of the exhibit adorned gilded coffee tables as the must have books.
Not unlike today, guests would arrive at the museum for cocktails in the Great Hall, in their finest designer gowns and jewels. Then they would proceed down an escalator into the darkness of the Met’s basement to bare witness to the exhibit. Vreeland’s opulently flamboyant taste reverberated throughout every aspect of the exhibit. In 1995, Anna Wintour took over as gala chair. The event transcended into a celebrity extravaganza. The who’s who of Hollywood would make the trek up those famous stairs.
The event became an exclusive affair. Wintour personally approves who is invited and single seat starts at $30,000 and a table at $200,000. The theme of the exhibit acted as an unofficial guide on how to dress for the event. While expected, it’s not a requirement to mirror the theme in a guest’s attire. To this day the Met Gala continues to dazzle and inspire.
It’s the perfect combination of philanthropy and high fashion. What’s not to love?
