The first Monday in May. The Met Gala, fashions biggest night out, was cancelled this year. Making the decision back in March 16th 2020 due to Covid-19. Today would ordinarily be the day that marks the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art spring exhibition.
The Met Gala event, which began in 1995 is organised and overseen by Anna Wintour. As well as the pure glamour of the night, one of the Gala’s purposes is to be a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Raising money in eight figure sums, with last years 2019 exhibition breaking records by raising $15 million USD dollars.
Whilst the Metropolitan Museum of Art museum will be missing this years gala as well as the fundraised money that accompanies it, the Museum is moving forwarding and has announced that the new exhibition, now scheduled to open on October 29th 2020 shall be “About Time.” And can be previewed on the Metropolitan Museum of Art museum website.
The Met Gala event, which began in 1995 is organised and overseen by Anna Wintour. As well as the pure glamour of the night, one of the Gala’s purposes is to be a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Raising money in eight figure sums, with last years 2019 exhibition breaking records by raising $15 million USD dollars.
Whilst the Metropolitan Museum of Art museum will be missing this years gala as well as the fundraised money that accompanies it, the Museum is moving forwarding and has announced that the new exhibition, now scheduled to open on October 29th 2020 shall be “About Time.” And can be previewed on the Metropolitan Museum of Art museum website.
The 2020 exhibition which marks the Met’s 150th anniversary, will celebrate a century and a half of fashion, starting from 1870 to the present, using a disruptive timeline.
Drawisng on Henri Bergson's concept of la durée (meaning duration), it will take an exploratory look at how clothes, “generate temporal associations that conflate past, present, and future.” (www.metmuseum.org) whilst Virginia Woolf will be used as the "ghost narrator" of the exhibition.
Spread over two adjacent galleries, a timeline of 120 fashions will tell the story through “60 minutes of fashion”, symbolized by two large clocks in the galleries. For every minute, a pair of garments will be featured. The primary garment symbolizes the linear nature of fashion whilst the secondary work symbolizes its cyclical character.
‘Each pair will be connected through shape, motif, material, pattern, technique, or decoration. For example, a black silk faille princess-line dress from the late 1870s will be paired with an Alexander McQueen "Bumster" skirt from 1995. All of the primary garments will be black, to emphasize their evolving silhouettes, and the secondary will be either black or white, to underscore their mutually reinforcing associations.’ – (The Met Gala.)
Click above to read Michael Cunningham's Short Story
Concluding the exhibition with a small selection of garments from 2020 that amongst other ethical issues prevalent to the next decade of fashion, will explore the relationship between the concept of duration as well as the conversation of inclusivity, the debate about diversity, sustainability, traceability, transparency, longevity and collaboration.
For those looking to still celebrate the Met Gala and its exhibition, a reading list from Virginia Woolf’s “About Time” can be found on their website as well as an interview and an excerpt from Michael Cunningham's short story “Out of Time” that he wrote for the catalogue can be previewed. The catalog is also available for pre-order.
Anna Wintour at The Met Gala - Photo credit, The Met Gala Official Instagram
For those truly nostalgic for the event and were looking forward to seeing this years looks, the site is also looking back at the last five years of The Met Gala to help fill the void.
What do we know about was planned for this years event?
Whilst we don’t know the guest list as it’s not realized until the night before, each year about 600 guest are invited. Invited guests don’t pay to attend, however the gala raises money by charging those non-invited guest to buy tickets. Priced at approximately $30,000 USD, and tables costing around $275,000.
Gala favorites in previous years have been Rihanna who has also co-chaired, Beyoncé, as well as Lady Gaga who co-chaired last years gala and did four outfit changes on the red carpet!
Gala favorites in previous years have been Rihanna who has also co-chaired, Beyoncé, as well as Lady Gaga who co-chaired last years gala and did four outfit changes on the red carpet!
THIS YEARS THEME
Tilda Swinton, Orlando
Given the exhibition is “About Time” Curator of the Costume Institute, Andrew Bolton was inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel, Orlando, but more specifically the 1992 Sally Potter film, based on the novel.
Bolton said, “There’s a wonderful scene,” he said, “in which Tilda Swinton enters the maze in an 18th century woman’s robe à la Francaise, and as she runs through it her clothes change to mid-19th century dress, and she re-emerges in 1850s England. That’s where the original idea came from.”
The Hosts:
Each year a host is appointed and this year was going to be co-chaired by Nicolas Ghesquière, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, and Anna Wintour.
who was attending?
Whilst we don’t know the guest list as it’s not released until the night before, each year about 600 guest are invited with a celebrity serving as a designers muse and its most usual for them to attend with the designer. Invited guests don’t pay to attend, however the gala raises money by charging those non-invited guest to buy tickets. Priced at approximately $30,000 USD, and tables costing around $275,000.
Gala favorites in previous years have been Rihanna who has also co-chaired, Beyoncé, as well as Lady Gaga who co-chaired last years gala and did four outfit changes on the red carpet!
With everything going on in the world at the moment, this certainly pales in comparison, however it is a night that will be missed, so here’s a look back at some of the best Met Gala moments over the last five years!
A LOOK BACK BEFORE WE LOOK FORWARD
2015-2019
For more information visit https://www.metmuseum.org
RSS Feed
