How was this year’s Met Gala theme interpreted?
How does the Garden of Time influence this year’s Met Gala theme?
Was the night where beauty came to life also its last night as we know it?
The annual fundraiser for the fashion exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art centered around a theme that echoes both the gala's essence and the museum's mission: to present art to the public rather than hiding it away to be seen exclusively by only the wealthiest. Inspired by J.G. Ballard's short story "The Garden of Time," a fictional and provoking narrative delving into the relationship between human psychology and mass media, a series of events that ultimately came to an abrupt end and its inherent irony isn't lost in the public.
On one hand, the flowers in Count Axel's garden served as guardians of his land, preserving every vase, painting and sculpture within it. Yet, once the flowers were gone, so did everything else, mirroring the main discourse of this year's theme, "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." Where flowers symbolize the conservation of history's most influential, groundbreaking and radical garments. This irony is almost comical as one of the year's most extravagant and televised events, attended exclusively by "countesses," amidst a growing societal anger towards the elite, fueled by the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The story's conclusion suggests the hosts' fated doom, ironic as it suggests that societal change is imperative and a necessity to dismantle unforgivable societal injustices.
Zendaya by @metgalaofficial_
But what does all this have to do with fashion? From a historical point of view, fashion has been accompanying humans across centuries, serving as beacons of freedom, gender discourses, oppressors, and societal dividers . Their preservation ensures our history is not forgotten. For what is history if not the key to our eternal liberation?
How will the theme be interpreted by guests?
Reawakening of fashion’s past archival pieces
Flowers seem to be the order of the day, and before you say anything, yes, flowers for spring - how groundbreaking. But it's true, we expected to see floral arrangements left to right, although some fashion enthusiasts, myself included, were hoping for the actual awakening of haute couture archival pieces. A dream turned into a reality as Kendall Jenner walked up the stairs in a never-before-worn Alexander McQueen dress for Givenchy fall 1999 haute couture. Constructed from nude and black tulle, and covered in thousands of brass beads, this sleeping beauty graced our presence after a 25 year long nap.
We reminisce about fashions greatest storyteller, whose macabre fascination challenged the norms of beauty, reflected his views on politics like with his “Highland Rape” collection. A complex mind that awakens fashion’s responsibility for creating with purpose, always with provocation in mind.
One glance from Givenchy’s archival collection wasn't enough. The event’s co-chair and fashion’s power duo, Zendaya and Law Roach, achieved the impossible once again. They not only met but exceeded everyone’s expectations, to the shock of nobody. Zendaya shut down the red carpet wearing a Givenchy by John Galliano 1996 black, off-the-shoulder corset gown complemented by an actual flower bouquet adorning her head.
Flowers that will later become Sleeping Beauties
Fashion’s golden girl, Gigi Hadid, joined Thom Browne in a custom made look that took over 13,000 hours to make entirely by hand. This couture masterpiece will now live in Browne’s archive - a white, off-the-shoulder corset dress with exaggerated hips, 3D sewn yellow flowers and a layered coat that served as a voluminous skirt. A true work of art, that like flowers, shedding their petals and transforming before our eyes, A statuesque look, reminiscent of Axel and his wife's fate, serving as a metaphor as the flowers crawl on top of it, covering and healing what had to be destroyed.
And in the theme of statuesque elegance, Taylor Russell appeared like a classical Greek statue that awakened on the Met Gala carpet. Russell went with Loewe in an adorned wood-painted bodice cast that appeared to be wood, but it wasn't, with hand painted floral motifs. Csted over an ivory draped skirt that swung over her hips. A debut for the pages, as Jonathan Anderson’s designs in his eponymous label and at Loewe have become the object of all desire and admiration. Not shying away from blurring the lines between what is real and surreal, what is natural and what is not. Russell’s look continued to the night's ingoing irony: What will be destroyed? What will be awakened? What is the purpose?
