The Met Gala is fashion at its silliest, and thus, fashion at its most fun. Though initially a charity fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art that dates back to 1948, Hollywood's favourite costume party began in earnest when Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour assumed the chair in 1995. It's been a starry calendar event ever since. Designers buy tables at prices north of $275,000. Designers fill said tables with very famous people. Photos are inevitably leaked of said very famous people honking on a ciggie in the toilet. Everyone has a nice time.
After the eerie monotony of pandemic living, there is extra attention on the Met Gala. Red carpet events are more frenzied and exclusive than ever. Everyone has missed the party. So, when the committee announced this year's theme, there was much drum-rolling, and much anticipation. Ladies and gentlemen... 'In America: An Anthology of Fashion'... Sure!
As a continuation of last year's dress code, 'In America: A Lexicon of Fashion', the Met Gala 2022 is set to be "part two" of a "thoughtful homage to our country's history", or so said the official press notes. And that's fine. Sprawling brands like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford and Michael Kors have shaped the entire industry, and thus deserve applause. Where better to celebrate them than the Met Gala? What's more, the new school of American talent has never been more exciting, with names like Pyer Moss, Telfar Clemens and Brandon Maxwell readdressing and revising the very notion of American fashion and who gets to make it.
For those expecting a parade of weird: don't get your hopes up. Though last year cut the ribbon on post-rona party season, the red carpet was a lot more sedate than in recent years. For every Maluma playing red leather show pony in Versace, there were ten tuxedos. Which, again, fine. But classic is supposed to be the exception at the Met Gala. It is not the rule. With a dress code that plays it straight once more, there may well be a sea of safe players with a few show offs peppered in. The Met Gala gained a foothold in the pop cultural consciousness because it decked out famous people in fun clothes. That'll still happen. But there's every reason to suspect that those instances may be fewer given the results of last year's dress code, and its second act for 2022.
The Met Gala has always worked best when dress codes get specific. Take 2018's 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination'. Rihanna arrived as a pearly sexy pope, and Jared Leto leaned into the Jesus thing and came as a walking tapestry, and Jordan Roth went for a cardinal-like gown of red lace. The church kicked off. But so did the best-dressed lists. The same goes for 2013's 'Punk: Chaos to Couture', where mohicans, chains and safety pins abounded. And who can forget 2019's 'Camp: Notes on Fashion', where the seminal essay by Susan Sontag translated into Billy Porter playing Sun God and arriving on a sedan chair carried by terrifyingly stacked men.
But some Twitter critics believe in the Met Gala's fallibility. 2017's 'Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between' was set to be a well-deserved tribute. But nobody really got it. It's hard to interpret the complex workings of a notoriously private designer that is famed for getting high concept. And so, several outfits missed the mark, because many of them are not armed with the encyclopaedic knowledge of senior fashion editors with 50 years under their belt (Rihanna, obviously, nailed it again). The same thing was seen at 'Charles James: Beyond Fashion'.
Given the voracious appetite for celebrity culture, the Met Gala will undoubtedly bang in 2022. But for something that is, at its roots, a fancy dress party, we still want the fun. Rihanna, you're up.
