After a year of rest due to COVID-19, what is known as the world’s biggest night of fashion, the Met Gala, took place on Sep. 13 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City. The Met Gala is an event where celebrities, rising stars, influencers and creatives in the industry come together to showcase the life of fashion.
This year’s Met Gala was a fundraising event for the museum and was hosted by actress and singer, Keke Palmer, and comedian and actress, Ilana Glazer.
Every year, the event grants celebrities to be co-chairs of the galas. Co-chairs are responsible for helping host the event by making sure the event runs smoothly. This year’s co-chairs were Timothée Chalamet, Amanda Gorman, Naomi Osaka and the younger co-chair for the event to date, Billie Eilish. The honorary chairs were Tom Ford, Adam Mosseri and Anna Wintour.
The MET museum is known for its exhibits of art such as sculptures, antiques, paintings and in this case, fashion. The Met Gala is usually held in the Spring to honor the Spring exhibition of the Costume Institue in the MET.
“We wanted to close New York fashion week and celebrate the museum and the fashion community,” Anna Wintour, Editor in Chief of Vogue Magazine, told Palmer. “We wanted to be a symbol for New York.”
The Costume Institute will present its first two-part exhibition with the first part, being the theme of this Met Gala, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” opening in the Anna Wintour Costume Center on Sep. 18, 2021.
“The main [reason for this choice] was the fact that the American fashion community has been supporting us for 75 years, really since the beginning of the Costume Institute, so I wanted to acknowledge its support, and also to celebrate and reflect upon American fashion,” Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute, told Vogue reporters.
The exhibition will remain when the second part of the exhibition opens on May 5, 2022, in the period rooms of the American Wing. The second-part theme is “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” and both displays will run through Sep. 5, 2022.
Met Gala 2022 is tentative for the first Monday of May and fans can only hope to expect another spectacular event during this second showcasing.
With roughly 600 attendees every year, this year’s Met Gala was minimized due to COVID-19 restrictions. Every person in attendance was required to show proof of full vaccination and wear a mask inside once entered.
Although we missed some previous Met Gala favorites such as Zendaya, Beyonce, Blake Lively and Katy Perry, fans witnessed some iconic looks that resonated with their expectations of the event.
“Honestly Lil Nas X [grabbed my attention],” Chloe Fields, junior fashion merchandising and design student said. “He brought what I wanted from the Met Gala. [He had] three corresponding looks; an attention grabber because of the different transformations. Everyone loves an outfit that takes breaths away and he just had that transformation for me.”
Famous figures such as Normani, Yari Shadidi, Chance the Rapper, Serena Williams, Law Roach, Tracee Ellis Ross and a multitude of other celebrities showed up and presented their garments on the iconic stairs of the MET museum. Designers and fashion labels were present at the gala with figures wearing clothes from Thom Browne, Valentino, Prada, Balenciaga, and many other brands and stylists.
Met Gala fan favorite, Rihanna, was one of the most anticipated guests of the event. The red carpet was closed and Vogue’s live stream ended around 9:15 p.m. EST. When fans did not see Rihanna, some fans, were skeptical about her appearance while others had faith.
“I had no doubt that Rihanna would show,” Khalia Pulliam, junior kinesiology student said. “Her looks are always above and beyond and she does well with contributing to the theme. I was extremely excited to see the look she’d have this year seeing that she does not miss.”
Fashionably late as always, Rihanna showed up just in time for the Met after-party. Draped in Balenciaga Couture Fall 2021, Rihanna strutted up the stairs in true iconic fashion. Her Met Gala date, ASAP Rocky, Manhattan rapper, wore a garment made by the ERL label.
Just when we thought she might not show up: Rihanna has arrived at the #MetGala red carpet https://t.co/syuU35tT0S pic.twitter.com/5ZsMgubsv5
— The Cut (@TheCut) September 14, 2021
The Met Gala was a dynamic event as always and fans and celebrities did not take the return of the event lightly. If you missed the event or any looks, be sure to tune into the Met Gala red carpet stream available on Vogue.com.
