Every fall the fashion and pop culture world anticipates the announcement of one of the biggest events of the year, the Met Gala. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Anna Wintour typically announce the fundraising event’s theme six to eight months in advance, leaving plenty of time for pop culture and fashion enthusiasts to get excited and make predictions about the possibilities of who is going to wear what. This not only builds excitement for the event but for where the money is going; the museum and its exhibits. As a fashion history lover, I couldn’t be more excited for this year’s theme.
The theme of the exhibition and gala for 2024 is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” In the Met’s announcement they described this theme as, “Using the natural world as a uniting visual metaphor for the transience of fashion, the show will explore cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal, breathing new life into these storied objects.” In more simple terms, the theme is going to be about bringing pieces that have sat in the costume institute’s collection but have been rarely or never seen by the public back to life. Another point they touched on was their description that these garments are fragile and can’t interact with the body. The displaying of these items in glass cases is because of their delicate nature, and their “resting” and unworn status is why they’re “Sleeping Beauties.” To connect to the message of rebirth and renewal, they also will incorporated natural elements in this theme. The natural elements will also serve as a metaphor for how delicate and cyclical fashion can be.
Despite the most hype being around who wears what at the gala, there is also a lot of mystery around which items will be chosen for the exhibit itself. Especially as many have stayed in the costume institute’s collection mostly unseen by the public. Of the costume institute’s collection, 250 items will be picked for the exhibit, including 15 historically significant garments. Two that we know will be included are a 17th-century Elizabethan bodice and a 19th-century ball gown. All of these items will span from historical to modern, from the 1600s to today. The exhibit will be split into three natural elements: land, sea, and sky. The exhibition of these items aims to revive these pieces by displaying them as art. This will be done through special effects and technology to help connect the audience to these pieces.
Curator Andrew Bolton said about a piece after it was put in the Met’s collection, “It can’t be worn, obviously, you don’t see it in movement, you can’t smell it, can’t hear it, can’t touch it.” The curators have planned on evoking the viewer’s senses in a variety of different ways, some being the use of different scents, light projection, AI, and video animation. What I’m most excited about are the 15 historical pieces and learning more about them. My past favorite exhibits were both the “In America” exhibits that displayed clothes interconnected with American history and icons. Overall, the exhibit will display the items chosen in an artistic fashion to revitalize culturally and historically significant pieces using new technology and natural elements.
The nuanced and complex theme was not what most people expected when they heard “Sleeping Beauties.” Many imagined princess-style ball gowns or something related to Disney or fairy tales. Others thought it was a jab at Kim Kardashian by Anna Wintour for the Marilyn Monroe gown she wore to the 2022 Met Gala. Social media and fashion experts are already making predictions about what is going to be worn. With all the excitement around the new Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a lot of people have brought up one of the most iconic dresses from the series. The Alexander McQueen butterfly dress worn by Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has been featured in the Met Gala’s Instagram. It’s likely we will see some garments from Hollywood icons and movies of the past. Many have a feeling that at least a few will take the abstract concept literally and wear pajamas or a dress resembling Princess Aurora’s.
Personally, I think this will be a very difficult theme for attendees of the gala. The first reason being that the theme is not as straightforward as some in the past. It’s not about a specific time period, designer, or icon. Despite having 400 years of fashion history to choose from, the theme itself makes it difficult to find a wearable piece. The point is that these items are delicate and fragile, so how can one be authentic to the theme without ruining what they’re wearing? I like that the theme is not simple and obviously has a lot of thought put into it by the curators, but I’m not sure how it will be interpreted by those invited. This is always the case with the Met Gala though, as we wait to see who will nail the theme, interpret it very differently from its intention, and who will ignore it completely. I’m excited to see all of the above by tuning in on May 6, 2024, and getting myself at the Metropolitan Museum before next summer’s over.