Met Gala 2024 Theme Announced as ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’
The theme for the 2024 Met Gala has been announced.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed the motif of next year’s Costume Institute exhibition — which will debut with the annual ball — on Wednesday, November 8, as “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”
The title draws from The Met’s collection of “rarely seen” items that will be “displayed in an entirely new way,” per Vogue. Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French director and CEO, explained, “This innovative show will push the boundaries of our imagination and invite us to experience many facets of a work, to learn more about its history, and, ultimately to gain a deeper appreciation of its beauty.”
The presentation will feature pieces from over 100 years ago by designers Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy and more.
Wendy Yu, the curator in charge of The Costume Institute, said she hopes the theme will “activate” a “sensorial appreciation of fashion.”
“Fashion is one of the most emotional artistic forms because of its connection to the body. It is imbued with memory and emotions, and we relate to it very much via our sense,” Yu said, per Vogue.
The 2024 soirée will take place on the first Monday of May and will be sponsored by TikTok and Loewe as well as Vogue. The exhibit will run from May 10 to September 2, 2024.
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Last year’s ball was titled “Karl Lagerfeld: A line of Beauty” and highlighted the legacy of the famed German fashion designer, who died in 2019 at age 85.
“Every design starts with a sketch,” the official Met Museum account tweeted at the time alongside a video of Lagerfeld at work. “Coming May 2023 — explore the artistic methodology and stylistic vocabulary of Karl Lagerfeld’s designs in ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ at the Met’s #CostumeInstitute.”
The invite-only event was attended by Hollywood’s biggest names, including Cardi B and Kim Kardashian.
Cardi, 31, looked like a gothic bouquet as she graced the iconic steps in a black bubble gown by Chenpeng Studio. The floor-length design was covered in protruding roses and was finished with a pearl-covered corset. The Grammy winner, who donned silver hair, teamed the piece with a sleeveless button-up and a black velvet tie.
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Kardashian, 43, for her part, covered her curves in pearls — 50,000 to be exact — with a custom Schiaparelli dress. The look bore a striking resemblance to the reality television star’s 2007 Playboy shoot, for which she posed nude and was covered only in the glistening gemstones.
Kardashian’s appearance at the 2023 celebration came after she stirred controversy with her outfit choice at the 2022 Met Gala by gracing fashion’s biggest night in Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress, which was designed by Bob Mackie. The late actress wore the crystal-covered number to serenade then-President John F. Kennedy in 1962.