“Florals, for spring? Groundbreaking.” Meryl Streep delivered this droll and dismissive line when playing Miranda Priestly, the commanding editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine and fictional stand-in for Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. A similar sentiment applies to the dress code of this year’s Costume Institute Benefit, the event colloquially referred to as the Met Gala, which raises funds for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and marks the opening of its annual exhibition. (The dress code: “Garden of Time”.) This year’s exhibition theme is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”.
The difference between the exhibition’s theme and the Met Gala’s dress code—which are often the same—caused some confusion, admitted Wintour, who has organized the event since 1995. She said that the discrepancy broke her “cardinal rule”. However, the resulting incongruity of looks on the red carpet created a diverse showing of cartoonish creativity, the hallmark of fashion’s biggest night.
Supermodel Kendall Jenner’s look reflected the theme of the exhibition instead of the Met Gala’s dress code. She and stylist Dani Michelle chose an archival dress by Alexander McQueen from Givenchy’s fall 1999 haute couture collection, originally shown on a mannequin, never worn by a human. Jenner is the world’s highest-paid supermodel for the sixth year running and a member of a famous reality TV family. Her choice to wear a dress that makes a statement by simply being worn reflects her reluctance to embrace the same type of fame as her family. Her persona does as little work as possible in giving the dress meaning, a garment that fits the “Sleeping Beauty” motif through its newness as a fashion accessory and value as a vintage artifact.
The tight crystalline silhouette of the dress evokes a countess of a bygone era, and the rimmed shoulders contrast Jenner’s usual adherence to clothes that emphasize her height. Her look at last year’s Met Gala, a tribute to Karl Lagerfeld, featured knee-length platform boots and long tassels that complemented her sleek figure. This year, the ornamentation on the dress’ shoulders relegates Jenner to the job of displaying the dress as a work of art instead of using clothing to draw attention to her presence as in years past. Attending the Met 2 Met Apres after party, Jenner wore a white dress with a long train and two wings on the top of the corset, designed by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy’s spring 1997 collection. The look conveyed an ambivalence to the beauty of the wearer through its flourishes, while its short length in the front portrayed the wearer’s physicality elegantly.
Jenner works well as a model for the same reason she doesn’t work well as a reality TV star. Her sisters thrive on camera because they communicate with hyperbole, while Jenner, the quiet sibling, communicates with facial expressions. The defense mechanisms she built while growing up in front of a camera allow her to use another vessel, clothing, to communicate a feeling to an audience.
On the red carpet, Jenner’s sisters make statements that reflect their bombastic TV personas. In 2022, Jenner’s half-sister Kim Kardashian wore Marlyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress to the Met Gala. Inviting a comparison to Monroe, who earned her fame in a traditional sense, showed self-awareness on Kardashian’s part. However, like reality TV, this statement uses proximity to fame to justify fame. Because Jenner grew up on her family’s show and didn’t provide a plot as the older Kardashian sisters did, she can use the family’s platform to carve a path in fashion without needing to reference her fame.
At this year’s Met Gala, Kim Kardashian wore a form-fitting Maison Mariela dress by John Galliano made of chain mail leaves strung together and draped over a silver bodice. Although entrepreneurial, the Kardashians aren’t symbols of female empowerment: the product they sell is the aspiration to conform to traditional beauty standards. The outrageously small waistline of this dress calls attention to the unattainability of Kardashian’s physique and reminds viewers of that physique’s place at the center of a billion-dollar empire.
At a ceremony honoring Anna Wintour, former First Lady Michelle Obama referred to fashion as a business and an art. This intersection underpins Wintour’s persona as much as the Vogue brand. At the heart of the fashion industry lies the question: is fashion a beautiful Trojan Horse for capitalism, or something beautiful tarnished by the fact that it must be bought and sold? Similarly, Wintour performs the role of astute curator of fashion while taking on the duty of fashion’s ambassador to popular culture, which entails sacrifices for fashion’s integrity.
The high-quality cameras that now exist in every cell phone threaten fashion journalism. Fashion journalists have had to find a new marketing device for the products they wrote about and advertised. Celebrities are the perfect fit. Famous singers, actors, and athletes attending the Met Gala and fashion weeks worldwide reinforce the exclusivity of the fashion industry and democratize it. A personal brand that consumers already identify with associating with fashion creates a bridge between the clothing and the consumer of that celebrity’s brand. Although the garments worn at the Met Gala remain unattainable, their attention-grabbing nature and the A-list guest list invite widespread attention on social media.
Supermodel Gigi Hadid graced the Met Gala red carpet in an off-the-shoulder gown by Tom Brown with a white corset that expanded into a train of ruffles resembling a deconstructed Southern belle dress. The haphazard train, decorated with 3D yellow flowers, encapsulates the dress’ off-center tribute to classic style. Hadid’s short hair emulates the 1950s, and while the dress doesn’t necessarily call back to that era, its simple floral pattern suggests a refinement typical of a decade removed from the current trend of “naked dressing”. The playfulness of Hadid’s dress contrasts rapper Doja Cat, who wore a maxi-length, wet, see-through white t-shirt, bearing no apparent correlation to the night’s theme.
Doja Cat’s fashion sense relies on shock value, which lends itself to misfiring or succeeding through outrageousness alone. Her look at the spring 2023 Schiaparelli show, a skin of red Swarovski crystals in which she resembled an extraterrestrial, exemplifies the latter. However, the bet Doja Cat made by wearing a T-shirt to the Met Gala shows her grand gestures have lost momentum. With a simple look, Doja Cat attempts to parody the high stakes of the Met Gala, using a blank canvas to make an inventive gesture. This simplicity undermines the outfit’s intended message because its unfinished nature relies too heavily on the wearer’s persona to convey meaning. Although the Met Gala invites showmanship, attempts at capturing the spotlight fall flat when star power is a blatant anchor.
Social media users have recently compared the extravagance of the Met Gala with the upper class of The Hunger Games, who threw lavish parties at the expense of the lower classes. These posts assert a similar dichotomy exists in our world, as celebrities wear million-dollar gowns to the Met Gala while unimaginable suffering occurs in Gaza. On the day of the 2024 Met Gala, protests raged in the streets outside the museum, held back by law enforcement. The absence of a high-profile Met Gala regular, Bella Hadid, sister of Gigi, makes the war in Gaza the Met Gala’s elephant in the room. Both sisters, whose father emigrated to the United States from Palestine, have been outspoken in their disapproval of Israel’s actions. Although she didn’t attend the Gala, days before, Bella sported a Christain Dior dress designed by John Galliano for the Spring 2004 collection when leaving her sister’s apartment in New York City.
The mesh dress, with butterflies woven into the fabric of a sheer torso, features a variety of textures, culminating in a transparent section rimmed with fringes. The ability of the dress to highlight the movement of the wearer is its strength, as the fringes waving at the bottom capture the smoothness of motion. Plucked from a 20-year-old collection, the dress fits the theme of the Met Gala exhibition, jeopardizing the fashion-celebrity symbiotic relationship. Because of their platform, celebrities, including supermodels, can set trends on their own terms. Hadid dressing for the Met Gala theme on her own time reveals how celebrities can use social media to divert the fashion conversation from a lucrative event.
Other high-profile absences this year include Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Rihanna. Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour, as well as her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who Vogue claimed has a “sartorial eye”, poised her to make a triumphant return to the Met Gala for the first time since 2016. Rihanna, who Anna Wintour called “everybody’s favorite Met guest”, skipped because she had the flu. Beyonce, whose Renaissance Tour was its own fashion show, also declined to attend. Their absences reveal the pitfalls of Anna Wintour’s deal with the devil. While chairing the Met Gala, Wintour has raised 223.5 million for the Costume Institute. However, Kim Kardashian has been on the cover of Vogue three times. While a successful entrepreneur, Kardashian was a reality star first. She will always have more to gain by attending the Met Gala than Rihanna, Beyonce, or Taylor Swift, who recognize the dangers of oversaturation.
However, this year’s Met Gala elicited creativity from established celebrities and ingenues. Singer Sabrina Carpenter stunned in a black Oscar De La Renta dress that ballooned into a heap of light blue ruffles. The dichotomy between the slim black dress and the billowing train reflects Carpenter’s sense of control. The coolness of the train’s color suggests the dress’ maximalist element exists in a thoughtful way, implying a cautious approach to a night of experimentation. Carpenter’s after-party look conveyed a similar theme. A skirt made of blue hydrangeas might seem on the nose for the “Garden of Time”, but through its straightforward nature, the piece creates space to have fun with the night’s premise.
Actor Andrew Scott brought sleek sex appeal in a sleeveless Versace vest and sheer top, arriving alongside designer Donatella Versace and actor Jude Law. Actor Chase Stokes, star of Netflix’s Outer Banks, followed the light-on-fabric trend in a sequined 1970s-inspired tuxedo jacket with no shirt underneath. Although more revealing than Scott’s vest, Stokes’ look parodied his TV character, whose laid-back beachy charm was reflected in the outfit’s playful 1970s motif. Meanwhile, Scott’s approach worked well because the outfit, while leaving room to show off his physicality, featured enough detail to be self-contained. A golden necklace anchored the sheer top, and insect pins added texture to the vest.
Scott stars in Netflix’s Ripley, a remake of the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley, which stars Jude Law. The original is a touchstone for old-money European fashion, with Matt Damon’s green speedo sparking the evergreen trend of neon beachwear. The subtle sexuality of Scott’s look denotes a passing of the torch from Law to Scott, and the designer of their looks pays homage to the film’s Italian setting. Here, name recognition plays a vital role in the group’s statement for the night about the blending of fiction and reality, which mirrors the Met Gala’s ability to create a fantasy out of reality.
The maestro of the night, Anna Wintour, wore a floor-length Loweo coat by Jonathan Anderson over a white dress. The black coat, embroidered with red and yellow flowers, resembles a tuxedo jacket, which suggests a correlation to Wintour’s reputation as a tough boss. However, feminizing a traditionally male piece of clothing keeps Wintour’s persona static instead of advancing it. Her industry power already does the work of reclaiming a traditionally masculine space. Wintour’s Met Gala looks that embrace femininity, such as 2022’s ankle-length Chanel dress, covered in haphazard pink and blue stripes and complemented by a feathery shawl and tiara, do more to fight the patriarchy by asserting that femininity and power aren’t mutually exclusive.
The exhibition at the Costume Institute this year suggests fashion can immortalize a person. Researchers created an olfactory element to the exhibition in which visitors can smell archival floral hats imbued with a scent to match the flower and the perfume of the hat’s original wearer. “Fashion is a living art form…a smellscape,” said curator Andrew Bolton. Some of the dresses, as old as 400 years, were too fragile to be displayed on a mannequin. Instead, 3D animations show these pieces in motion. Fashion is proof our creations outlast us, but the fading floral design on the exhibit’s dresses evokes the desire to make beautiful creations no matter their expiration date.
In fashion, a human is both the medium for a message and part of the message being conveyed. This is a different form of communication than a piece of writing, which bears no physical connection to the writer once written and read by someone else. Because a piece of clothing’s purpose culminates upon wearing, all fashion conveys the impermanence of humanity because contained in each statement is a mortal person. To appear beautiful for one night is not just to feel good about yourself. It is an assertion of life’s beauty, exaggerated through clothing, persisting in spite of a guaranteed ending: the ending of a night or the eventual ending of our lives. The knowledge of an ending makes the revelry more special. In this sense, humans are like flowers. A plant or a tree might last for years, but its blossoms last for only weeks. Yet they are what is remembered. Maybe florals are groundbreaking after all.