The Met Gala costs much more than its US$30,000 ticket
We calculate the sums behind ‘the Super Bowl of fashion’
The first Monday in May hosts the party of the year in the fashion world.
Dubbed the Oscars of the East, the annual Met Gala is back on May 7, themed “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” to celebrate the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newest exhibition at the Costume Institute.
With 180 pieces on display, featuring high-end, expensive designers from Versace and Valentino to Dolce & Gabbana and Chanel, the exhibition will focus on the “dialogue between fashion and the masterworks of religious art”.
Helmed by Vogue’s Anna Wintour (and co-chaired this year by Rihanna, Donatella Versace and Amal Clooney), the Met Gala is known for its best-dressed and worst-dressed celebrities, socialites and businesspeople who walk the red carpet in their interpretation of the theme.
Anyone who is anyone is there, at least according to Wintour's hand-picked and closely scrutinised guest list.
But the cost to make an appearance during fashion's biggest night out is a steep one, and the cost to make the event happen is even bigger. For US$30,000 a ticket, those who passed Wintour's approval can attend the US$3.5 million event.
And that is just the beginning of all the money that goes into – and comes out of – what André Leon Talley refers to as “the Super Bowl of fashion”.
Take an inside look at the money behind the Met Gala: