From Cher naked dress to Rihanna “omelette gown”, di gala don see many iconic looks. As di fashion event of dis year go shele today, Ellie Violet Bramley look back at some of di event magic moments.
“Di first Monday in May” don come to dey known as di night di fashion industry dey relax and enjoy diasef. Stunts dey, frocks wey be di size of caravans and selfies wey millions of pipo all ova di internet dey see also dey.
But e bin start more humbly. Eleanor Lambert, di publicist and “godmother of fashion”, bin launch di Met Gala 76 years ago for 1948 as fundraiser for di new Costume Institute of di Metropolitan Museum of Art for New York, John Tiffany, her former mentee and biographer, tell di BBC. More broadly, e add, na way to “raise di visibility of American fashion”. Dem sell di $50 tickets to members of New York high society.
Even den, though, na chance to have some fun. “During di war, New Yorkers gatz go black out dia windows and keep di lights off, so for di original Met Gala for 1948, Lambert bin create ‘Midnight Dinner’ to let loose.”
E don go through many twists and turns since. “From 1948 until di 1970s, di goal na to look flawless, embrace your own style while you dey celebrate American fashion on di storied steps of di Met,” Tiffany tok. Na under di tenure of US fashion editor Diana Vreeland for di 1970s di event become more elaborate, wit di introduction of themes wey spice tins up and di guestlist extend to cultural types such as Andy Warhol, as well as society figures like Jackie Kennedy. But na for di 1995 di single biggest shift in di history of di event arrive in di shape of a bob: dis na di year wey Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour take ova.
While many tins about di Met Gala today don seriously change, den as now e dey raise moni. “Di Met Gala dey likely to be Anna Wintour biggest career achievement,” Amy Odell, fashion journalist and best-selling author of Anna: The Biography, tell di BBC. “E don raise hundreds of dollars for di Costume Institute for di museum, wey make Anna succeed in raising di ticket price from several thousands to tens of thousands of dollars since she start to plan am. “Dem reportedly sell dis year ticket for eye-watering $50,000.
Di night dey about wetin dey seen and wetin no dey seen, becos while di front steps na home to many flashing cameras, di festivities inside dey shrouded in secrecy. “Part of di elitism of di event na im mystique,” Odell tok. “Wetin separate dose wey get invited from evri one else? Wetin really happun inside di party? Dis questions keep di public interested in di event, any scrap of information we get about am become news item, wey go fuel further intrigue.”
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Met Gala by Wintour na all-couture-blazing sartorial spectacle. Na barometer for our times, but na one wey dey rich, and a chance to see wetin a lot of cash, creativity and confidence fit do. For some, e go always dey shamelessly extravagant, for odas, dis na where im brilliance dey. Here, we take a look at some of di most iconic Met Gala moments through di years:
Cher in di Bob Mackie “naked dress”
1974: Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design
“Cher and Bob Mackie break all di rules dat night and show how glamorous Hollywood dey at dat veri moment,” Tiffany tok. “E fit no work on anyone else, but Cher bin get di confidence and Bob Mackie understand exactly how far e fit go.” Dis na nearly 50 years ago, but di naked dress trend dat time na same tin wit now.
Diana Ross
1981: Di 18th-Century Woman
Like a millefuille wey dem make wit feathers, The Supremes singer outfit na one of di most attention-grabbing of di more understated earlier years of di gala. “Diana Ross bin change di conversation from 18th-Century woman to Miss Ross dat night!” Tiffany tok. She even re-wear di dress many years later to di 2012 American Music Awards.
Rihanna’s Guo Pei “omelette dress”
2015: China: Through di Looking Glass
For Chinese couturier Guo Pei, wey don dey design couture for more dan 30 years by di time Rihanna wear dis yolk-yellow dress, having her work dubbed di “omelette dress”, and heavily memed, na unexpected way to become internet-famous around di globe. Di cape don take more dan 50,000 hours to hand embroider and weigh 25kg.
Even if maybe na complicated moment for Guo, na one wey Wintour, according to Odell, really love: “[she] actually love di ova-di-top looks”.
Di theme na Catholicism, and producer, writer and actor Lena Waithe wear one cape wey show di city of Philadelphia revised pride flag, weit added black and brown stripes to call attention to concerns wey dey affect LGBTQ+ pipo of colour. “I dey rep my community, and I want evri bodi to know say you fit be whoever you be, and completely proud, and you go dey do am,” she tell Vogue for dat night.
Under am, she wear one Carolina Herrera tuxedo. Na Tiffany notes, “one sophisticated but veri chic look combined wit her powerful message. E make a huge impact.”
Also noteworthy from dis night na Rihanna wey effectively dress up as di pope. While, according to Tiffany, “no one confuse her wit di Holy See,” she fit don “inspire a few Cardinals to submit her name at di next Papal Conclave wishing for dia first female Pope.”
Billy Porter grand entrance
2019: Camp: Notes on Fashion
“Di theme na camp, Billy clearly understand di assignment,” Tiffany tok. Tiffany. She dey tok about di arrival of di Pose star for di red carpet as a winged Egyptian pharaoh. Shirtless attendants wey wear gold carry am, and set am down only to sprout golden wings. As Porter tell Variety: “Camp mean irreverence. Camp mean as hugely ova-di-top and grand and wetin some fit feel say e dey ridiculous and silly, and embracing all of dose creative impulses inside us wey dey dey suppressed often.”
Dis na also di year wey Lady Gaga chew through four outfits by Brandon Maxwell on di red carpet, bringing Wintour out from di entrance inside di museum, wia she greet guests, to watch am – di first time, according to Odell, say she watch a red-carpet entrance. Na also di year Jared Leto bin carry a model of im own head to di gala, although reports no dey say Wintour make am out for dis.
“Tax di rich” gown wey Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wear
2021: For America: A Lexicon of Fashion
Hypocritical or some much-needed radicalism, wen di New York congressowman wear one white gown by black female designer Aurora James get di phrase “tax the rich” in red, e certainly get pipo to tok. As Ocasio-Cortez write on Instagram at di time: “Di medium na di message… Dis na time for childcare, healthcare, and climate action for all. Tax di Rich.”
But while di white wool slogan dress don be one of di most searched-for Met Gala look on Google, di dress wey Kim Kardashian wear deserve special mention too. A collaboration between Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia and Kardashian’s ex-husband, Kanye West, na bold look wey see di woman wit one of di most recognised faces – and bodies – for di world, covered from head to toe. As di design duo know, di Met na di place for going all out.
Blake Lively metamorphosing dress
2022: Gilded Glamour
Di theme ask attendees to look to New York Gilded era, wey roughly span di 1870s to di dawn of di 20th Century, and see a boom in wealth as a result of industrialisation. Gossip Girl actor Blake Lively wear one Versace dress wey be ode to New York City in dat age, changing colour from turquoise to copper midway up di red carpet in a transformation wey dey intended to represent di oxidisation of di Statue of Liberty. Architecture influence di dress more dan fashion, wit nods to di skyline, such as di Empire State Building, as well as di star-filled ceiling of Grand Central station. Na fitting look for New York City most glamorous event.
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