Fashion and Style

Met Gala 2023: Theme, Hosts and Everything You Should Know


First things first: What is the Met Gala?

Officially, it’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute benefit, a black-tie extravaganza held the first Monday in May to raise money for the museum’s fashion wing.

Unofficially, it’s the party of the year, the Oscars of the East Coast and “an A.T.M. for the Met” (the last according to the publicist Paul Wilmot). To understand the latter, consider that last year’s event raised $17.4 million — while the Met’s regular old Spring Gala raised just over $2.6 million. How is that possible? What is the secret sauce?

Two words: Anna Wintour. The Vogue editor has been the gala’s chief mastermind since 1999 after first signing on in 1995, and she has turned the event from a run-of-the-mill charity gala into a mega-showcase for Vogue’s view of the world — the ultimate celebrity-power cocktail of famous names from fashion, film, tech, politics, sports and (now) social media. Every brand scratches every other brand’s back.

We think of it as the Fashion X Games or the All-Star Game of Entrances.

This year, D-Day is also May Day: Monday, May 1. In theory, the timed arrivals — each guest is allotted a slot — start at 5:30 p.m., usually with the evening’s hosts, and end around 8 p.m. But you try telling Beyoncé when to show up! The most famous generally arrive whenever they want, sometimes as late as 9:30 p.m.

Guests have been instructed to — surprise — dress “in honor of Karl.” Expect to see a lot of Chanel, Fendi and Lagerfeld, as well as Chloé, Balmain and Patou (where Mr. Lagerfeld worked early in his career). Hopefully, that will mean a lot of vintage, which could make this the most sustainable Met Gala ever — an exciting possibility.

The guest list is guarded with the obsessive secrecy of the Illuminati members’ roll until the night itself, but rumor has it Brittney Griner may attend this year. Past and present Chanel ambassadors such as Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, Marion Cotillard, Kristen Stewart, Charlotte Casiraghi and Pharrell Williams may well show up.

Designers tend to arrive with famous dates, many of whom happen to be brand ambassadors, which makes the guests walking advertisements for fashion houses as well as for the event itself. Last year, for example, Nicolas Ghesquière of Louis Vuitton women’s wear brought Emma Stone, Jung Ho-yeon, Gemma Chan, Cynthia Erivo, Phoebe Dynevor, Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas. Jeremy Scott, then of Moschino, brought Megan Thee Stallion, Iris Law and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez.

For a moment, a rumor circulated that the Kardashians had not been invited this year, but that turned out not to be true, and odds are Kim will make an entrance. Her decision last year to starve herself to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s famous “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress became the controversy of the night, which raises the stakes around her appearance this time around.

Some stalwart fans line up on Fifth Avenue behind sidewalk barriers and security officers across from the (tented) museum steps, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite celebrities as they emerge from their black vans and town cars, but Vogue keeps a tight leash on the livestream (no “Live From E!” for the Met red carpet), and this is not a moment for the rabble. You get a better view from your small screen or computer. We’ll be live-blogging the arrivals, so tune in here.



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