The first Monday in May has been designated to the Met Gala for over 50 years. The Met Gala is a charity event to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
Every year hundreds of celebrities gather to walk up the steps of the Met and get their picture taken in their most fashion forward outfits. It is estimated that a ticket to the Met costs around $50,000; however, most of the time a fashion house or brand will pay for a table and invite celebrities to attend on their behalf.
This year’s theme was “in honor of Karl”, as in infamous Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld. Like any other major celebrity event, controversy attached itself to this event as well.
Throughout his life Lagerfeld was involved in a number of controversies including insensitive comments about the Me Too movement, plus-sized people, and Muslims. However it seems like Anna Wintor, the editor of VOGUE magazine and the Met Gala committee chose to put that aside and honor his contributions to the world of fashion. In honor of Lagerfeld, the Gala also had some problematic moments and iconic fashion looks.
The most talked about looks of the night were Doja Cat and Jared Leto, who both dressed up as Choupette, Largerfeld’s beloved cat. During an interview with social media personality Emma Chamberlain, Doja only responded in meows and was seen licking her hands. Social media was quick to call this behavior rude and disrespectful towards Chamberlain.
Doja was not the only one called out for rude behavior. During an interview with Aubrey Plaza, Madeline Cline, and Stella McCartney, McCartney interrupted Chamberlain’s questions and ended the interview with a more than awkward mic drop. Cline was quick to apologize afterwards but that didn’t keep the audience from cringing at McCartney’s behavior. Celebrity interviews with Emma Chamberlain seem to be the most popular and talked about. Her interview with rapper Jack Harlow last year became viral when the two exchanged ‘I love you’s at the end. This year viewers were happy to see the two reunited at the top of the steps.
Nicole Kidman stunned on the carpet when she showed up in the same pink feather dress that she wore in her iconic Chanel No. 5 ad from 2002. She was not the only guest to show up in archival Chanel. Dua Lipa, one of this year’s co-chairs wore a gorgeous white gown, which debuted at the 1992 Fall Haute Couture collection. Penelope Cruz wore an archival dress from the 1988 Haute collection.
As for problematic, the Met had its fair share of moments. Director Olivia Wilde and
editor-in-chief of VOGUE China Margaret Zhang showed up in inverse colors of the same dress. But perhaps the most memorable moment of the night was when a cockroach decided to walK up the iconic Met steps and attempt to join the exclusive party inside the museum.
Overall the guests followed this year’s theme much better than last year’s “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” Among the best dressed attendees were Wednesday Star Jenna Ortega in Thom Browne, Gisele Bundchen in Chanel, Anne Hathaway in Versace, Bad Bunny in Jacquemus, and FINNEAS in Cartier. All the looks of the night are available on the Vogue website.