If you are like me and mark your calendars for the first Monday of May each year, you will be well acquainted with the concept of the Met Gala. But, for those who are not avid followers of Anna Wintour and Vogue, let me give you the 411 on the subject.
What is the Met Gala?
Vogue hosts an annual fundraising event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute every spring. The funding goes to maintaining the museum’s fashion-focused department, including their exhibitions and research.
Each year, the Met Gala has a specific theme tied to the exhibition at the Costume Institute.
The celebrities who attend collaborate with designers across the world, who put their own creative spin on the theme. The result is a spectacle of inventive designs that push the boundaries of fashion and set trends for the coming year.
Who Attends?
Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, co-chairs the event and selects the list of attendees. This year, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and LeBron James will serve as co-chairs alongside Wintour. The list of attendees is kept secret until the day of the event, but we will expect to see familiar faces, such as the Kardashian crew, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rihanna, Zendaya, and Cardi B.
What is the Theme?
This year’s Met Gala theme is Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, based on Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. The exhibition’s theme will examine Dandyism and the importance of clothing and style to the formation of Black identity throughout history and in the present. The attendees will walk through the history of Black American style, from slaves styled as luxury items by their slave owners to individuals with their own dignified identity.
Dandyism is the enthusiastic attention to dress as a tool to reimagine one’s identity. Miller says the word asks questions “identity, representation, and mobility in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, and power.”
Based on the theme, the dress code will be ‘Tailored to You’. With the broad theme, expect to see both exquisitely tailored pieces and garments that explore the connection between current fashion trends and the historical lineage of Black tailors, designers, and trend-setters.
Why Should I Care?
It is all too easy to scoff at the Met Gala as an out of touch event for celebrities to spend exorbitant amounts of money in order to play dress-up and parade around for the paparazzi, but this would be an egregious oversight.
With millions of viewers, Anna Wintour, Vogue, and the event as a whole wield enormous influence that should not be overlooked. With the government issuing guidance against celebrating “identity months”, such as Black History Month, and the White House encouraging corporations, universities, and government agencies to cancel all DEI programming, the Met Gala is making a bold statement with its theme. While the world turns from listening to voices of color, the Met Gala is choosing to center them.
By focusing the event on Black style and its crucial impact on current American style, the Met Gala is sending the message to the world that our history informs our present identities. Dandyism is about reclaiming one’s identity even when it is threatened.
It proves that even those who are told to be invisible, can be striking.