All your burning questions about the Met Gala, answered – from 2023’s hosts Dua Lipa, Roger Federer and Penélope Cruz and the controversial Karl Lagerfeld theme to the guest lists and US$50,000 fee
Gigi Hadid attends the Met Gala celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2022, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
Last year, it took 275,000 bright pink roses to adorn the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Met Gala, the biggest night in fashion and one of the biggest concentrations of star power anywhere.
It remains to be seen how the museum’s Great Hall will be decorated come the first Monday in May, but one thing is not in question: those entering it will surely look spectacular.
Billie Eilish poses on the red carpet for the Met Gala, the annual benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, in New York, in September 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE
The theme centres on the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, who made an indelible mark on luxury fashion in his long career at Chanel, Fendi and elsewhere. It is a theme not without controversy – Lagerfeld was known for contentious remarks about everything from #MeToo to curvy bodies.
Want to know what to expect as the big day approaches? Not to worry. We’ve dusted off our annual guide for you here, with some key updates.
What is the Met Gala anyway?
Rihanna arrives on the red carpet for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s benefit celebrating the opening of the exhibit “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” in New York, US, in May 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE
It started in 1948 as a society midnight supper, and wasn’t even at the Met.
Fast forward 70-plus years, and the Met Gala is something totally different: one of the most photographed events in the world for its head-spinning red carpet – though the carpet isn’t always red.
Zendaya arrives for the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2019, in New York. Photo: AFP
We’re talking Rihanna as a bejewelled pope. Zendaya as Cinderella with a light-up gown. Katy Perry as a chandelier morphing into a hamburger. Also: Beyoncé in her “naked dress”. Billy Porter as an Egyptian sun god, carried on a litter by six shirtless men. And Lady Gaga’s 16-minute striptease.
And, last year, host Blake Lively’s Versace dress – a tribute to iconic New York architecture – that changed colours in front of our eyes.
Kim Kardashian attends the Met Gala celebrating “In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion” at Metropolitan Museum of Art in September 2021, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
Then there’s Kim Kardashian, bringing commitment to a whole other level. (It’s reasonably safe to expect her again this year, because why wouldn’t she be coming?) One year, she wore a dress so tight, she admitted she had to take breathing lessons beforehand. Two years ago, she wore a dark bodysuit that covered even her face.
Kim Kardashian attends the Met Gala celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2022, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
But then last year she truly stole the carpet, showing up in Marilyn Monroe’s actual, diamante-studded “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress (borrowed from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum), changing the minute she got inside to protect it. There was controversy later over suspicions, denied by Ripley’s, that she’d caused some damage. But still – that was an entrance.
Blake Lively attends the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” exhibition in May 2022, in New York. Photo: AP
It’s important to note that the party has a purpose – last year, the evening earned US$17.4 million for the Met’s Costume Institute, a self-funding department. Yes, that’s a pretty monumental sum for a gala. It also launches the annual spring exhibit that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the museum.
Iman attends the Met Gala celebrating “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” at Metropolitan Museum of Art in September 2021, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
But it’s the carpet itself that draws the world’s eyes, with the guest list – strategically withheld until the last minute – featuring a collection of notables from films, music, fashion, sports, politics and social media that arguably makes for the highest celebrity wattage-per-sq-ft of any party in the world.
Who’s hosting this year?
Penélope Cruz arrives for the Met Gala celebrating “Camp: Notes on Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2019, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
This year’s five hosts are drawn from television (Emmy-winning writer, actor and producer Michaela Coel); the films (Oscar-winning actor Penélope Cruz, who has worked with Chanel for more than 20 years); sports (recently retired tennis superstar Roger Federer); and music (Grammy-winning songstress Dua Lipa).
Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour arrives for the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in May 2022. Photo: AFP
Finally there is Vogue’s Anna Wintour (do we need to tell you she’s in fashion?) running the whole thing as usual.
Is there always a theme?
German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld with British model Stella Tennant, left, acknowledges applause at the end of the presentation of his Paris-Bombay collection for Chanel, presented at the Grand Palais in Paris, in 2011. Photo: AP
Yes. As mentioned above, the theme is Karl Lagerfeld, and the exhibit, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” looks at “the designer’s stylistic vocabulary as expressed in aesthetic themes that appear time and again in his fashions from the 1950s to his final collection in 2019”. Once again, it has been created by the Met’s star curator, Andrew Bolton.
Does everyone follow the theme?
Zendaya attends the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and The Catholic Imagination” Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2018, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
Not really. Some eschew it and just go for big and crazy. But expect some guests to carefully research the theme and come in perfect sync. It was hard to beat the carpet, for example, when the theme was tied to “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” and Rihanna came as the pope, Zendaya channelled Joan of Arc, and Perry navigated the crowd with a set of enormous angel wings. For Lagerfeld, the clothes may be a bit more, er, down to earth.
How much do I have to pay for a Met Gala ticket?
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen attend the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and The Catholic Imagination” Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2018, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
Wrong question. You cannot just buy a ticket. The right question is: if I were famous or powerful and got invited, how much would it cost?
OK, if I were famous or powerful and got invited, how much would it cost?
Elon Musk arrives for the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2022, in New York. Photo: Getty Images
Well, you might not pay yourself. Generally companies buy tables. A fashion label would then host its desired celebrities. This year, the cost has gone up, as it does every few years due to rising expenses: it’s now US$50,000 for an individual ticket, and tables start at US$300,000.
So who gets invited?
Helen Lasichanh and Pharrell Williams attend the Met Gala benefit “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” at Metropolitan Museum of Art in September 2021, in New York City. Photo: WireImage
This year, there will be roughly 400 guests – similar to recent years but still lower than pre-pandemic highs of 500-600. Wintour and her team still get to approve every guest.
Michelle Yeoh attends the Met Gala celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2022, in New York City. Photo: Getty Images
Trying to predict? Take out your pen and jot down some of your favourite names, the buzzier the better. Newly minted Oscar winners, for example, are a good bet. Broadway is a special favourite of Wintour’s. She also loves tennis – this is not fashionable Federer’s first Met Gala. Now, cross everyone off your list except the very top. At this gala, everybody’s A-list.
... that must be an exaggeration?
Tina Fey attended the Met Gala in 2010. Photo: @DailyFey/Twitter
Not really. Ask Tina Fey. She went in 2010 and later described walking around trying to find somebody “normal” to sit and talk to. That ended up being Barbara Walters.
How can I watch?
Fans and spectators climb on scaffolding and gather in the street to watch the arrivals at the Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2022, in New York City. Photo: GC Images
You can watch the whole carpet unfold on a Vogue livestream. If you’re in New York, you can also join fans across the street, behind barricades, on Fifth Avenue or even further east on Madison. Timothée Chalamet has been known to greet fans.
Do we know who’s coming? And who isn’t?
Lily-Rose Melody Depp arrives for the “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology” Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2016, in New York City. Photo: WireImage
It’s secret. But reports slip out, often about who is not coming and why. You can count on various celebrity Chanel ambassadors showing up. Watch this space.
What happens inside?
Albanian singer Dua Lipa attends the Met Gala celebrating “Camp: Notes on Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in May 2019. Photo: AFP
Entering the museum, guests walk past what is usually an impossibly enormous flower arrangement in the lobby, with perhaps an orchestra playing nearby, and over to cocktails. Or, they head to view the exhibit. Cocktails are 6pm to 8pm, but the most famous – or those who plan to make the biggest entrance – sometimes come (fashionably) later.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively might be the ultimate celebrity power couple. Photo: @vancityreynolds/Instagram
Around 8pm, guests are summoned to dinner – perhaps by a team of buglers. (“Are they going to do that between every course?” actor Gary Oldman asked aloud one year.)
Is it fun for everyone?
Amy Schumer described the Met Gala as a “punishment”. Photo: @Cosmopolitan
Occasionally, someone says no. Fey, in a comic rant to David Letterman in 2015, described the gala as a “jerk parade” and said it included everyone you’d ever want to punch, if you had millions of arms. Amy Schumer left early in 2016 and said later she felt awkward and like it was “a punishment”.
The annual Met Gala attracts the world’s biggest celebrity figures, from Rihanna and Lady Gaga to Zendaya, Kim Kardashian and Blake Lively – but the VIP list isn’t revealed until the big day
Guests have to be approved by Anna Wintour to get an invite, but not all celebs are keen, with Tina Fey calling the event a ‘jerk parade’ and Amy Schumer describing her experience as a ‘punishment’
