Met Gala 2024 Focus: Through the Eyes of a GenZ
Met Gala 2024 Focus is a GenZ look at May’s most anticipated fashion industry event. But before we see who was on the theme, why this year’s edition was so controversial, and what looks this year’s show is all about, let’s actually see what exactly the Met Gala is.
Met Gala 2024 Focus: High Society Event since 1948
A social-cultural tradition that began as far back as 1948, the Met Gala is that event of spring that everyone talks about, but very few get to. It always takes place on the first Monday in May, and your ticket is a carefully branded invitation. Anna Wintour, chairwoman since 1995, is the first, last and only voice to have a say on the gala. Sounds very sumptuous, because it is. The Met Gala is the most expensive fundraiser happening in the fashion world. The amount raised, nearly $22 million in 2023, is donated entirely to the Costume Institute, also known as the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute.
Basically, the Met Gala kicks off the museum’s fashion exhibition each year, which also features a new theme each year. Over time, however, the philanthropic spirit has been lost in the layers of material, with the gala these days having more of the vibe of: attire to last until I climb the stairs, we’ll see how it goes after.
The Garden of Time
Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion
The Met Gala always has a dress code and theme based on the Institute’s annual exhibition. This year’s theme was the Garden of Time, and the exhibition’s central idea was the revitalization of haute couture fashion. The theme was based on a dystopian short story by Chinese-born J.G. Ballard. The story features a count who tries, and succeeds briefly, to resist the mob that wants to take over his manor and all the cultural pieces it contains. It’s an allegory that warns of the consequences of confining culture away from the public. Something the Institute is emphasising by presenting the exhibition at the Met Gala and beyond. Yet the irony cannot be avoided, as Ballard criticizes these counts and the fact that they hide all the culture they possess, while the Met Gala builds them a pedestal.
Met Gala 2024 Focus: who are the brands’ images
This year’s Met Gala was a no-influencers edition, once present in surprisingly large number for an A-Class event. You know the dilemma about the difference between a pound of feathers and a pound of lead, that in the end are the same. Well, when it comes to influencer popularity vs celebrity fame, things are a little different. So, Ana Wintour has decreed that the approximate list of 700 guests at the gala be carefully curated. And when you have as a rule of attendance that you’re not sharing your table with friends, but with complete and utter strangers, it makes sense.
So, the Met Gala is the perfect opportunity for brands to demonstrate why they think they’ve chosen the right image to represent their name. I’m going to skip the already over-hyped names, which you’ve probably seen everywhere already. Let`s dig in a litttle deeper and see who else we find.
Mirror, mirror on the wall…who is wearing Rita Ora?
If your answer was immediately Tom Ford, congrats, you nailed it. Rita’s dress was made of A LOT of beads, some of which have been around since before Christ. Yes, from the first and second centuries. Older than mankind. Tom Ford, ladies and gents, a true genius. We can say that the Reawakening of Fashion was heavily punctuated.
No silver or no gold could dress me up so good – Indeed, Charli
Also going for the fashion revival idea was Charli XCX. (If you haven’t listened to her music before today, RUN ON YOUTUBE because you’ve effectively skipped an entire pop era.) Charli wore a dress made from recycled vintage t-shirts that took somewhere around a little over 200 hours to make. The design belongs to the brand Marni, and the creative director behind the design is Francesco Risso.
Amanda Seyfried also went for sustainability. If you didn’t fall in love with her in Dear John and Mamma Mia, you certainly will now. Her dress was designed by Prada, from scraps of material, because the actress stressed from the start how important recycling is to her.
And to end this category with a fun fact: Madelyn Cline of Outer Banks accessorized her Tommy Hilfiger dress with a clutch and jewelry FROM EBAY. Yes, she did that. The clutch is also Hilfiger, but picked up at a thrifted sale, as it were, and the designer reused some of the dress material to dress it up.
Yes, about Tommy Hilfiger and his 8 princes, hold that thought.
Met Gala 2024 Focus: Beauty & Brains
I want to introduce you to Mona Patel, a businesswoman and philanthropist of Indian origin. She was a fairy, indeed, because the metallic butterfly appliques she wore WERE MOVING. The dress was incorporated with a mechanism in the back to move the whole installation on her arms. Yes, she actively participated in the design of the dress with Law Roach, who has also dressed Zendaya in the past. To create an Iris Van Herpen gown that Mona could wear for her Met Gala debut, Roach actually went after her in India. He even strolled into a factory in Mumbai, drove all over the city and put together an entire team – for Mona. Talk about commitment.
Frozen, Camila Cabello version
The theme has certainly been respected, although not quite as you might imagine. Camilla’s dress was Ludovic de Saint Sernin, but quite simple, nothing special. Ok, well where’s the garden, where are the flowers? Well, hihi, they’re in that brick of ice she’s holding. This señorita sure knows how to give a twist. The rose trapped in the ice is the perfect detail that stuck to the theme, as it was released after the ice melted.
And if we’re on the “where did you forget your purse?” front, Tyla replaced it with literally a HOURGLASS WITH SAND to complement her sands of time outfit created by Balmain.
Spotted: AI @Met Gala
The turnout for this year’s gala was so good that even those who didn’t attend responded. Okay, let me rewind. The Met Gala has a few regulars who show up every year, but they still happen to skip at some random year. Like what happened with Rihanna, who got a cold-based exemption. Katy Perry couldn’t make it either, due to her busy work schedule. And among the established Met names who missed this year were Selena Gomez, Blake Lively and Lady Gaga.
GenZ is no joke, we are to creative for our own good, it is actually so scary. Because after a quick glance at the TikTok live streams, the missing faces were immediately ticked off. Giggle in hold my beer and bet. So through the magic-illegal power of AI technology, the gala’s favourite poofs appeared on the steps of the Met. The funniest part is that the end result is so, oh, STUNNING. This AI is the equivalent of the Elder Wand: it feeds your inspiration or alerts the FBI agent keeping an eye on you.
The red question remains, though: who will design these dresses and why should it be Dior? Because the 17.1M Views, 28.7k Reposts, 302k Likes, 38.1k Comments and 11.3k Saves on Twitter from the original post ARE DEMANDING THAT KATY PERRY DRESS.
Met Gala Focus 2024: manifesting their relationships
It’s well known by now that the Met Gala is both an occasion to the latest fashion and an opportunity to debut the new relationship. Although many couples who have done so haven’t made it to the next edition of the gala, for the two below we pray the stars are aligned properly.
Cinderella ran off to Wonderland with the Mad Hatter
Sabrina Carpenter is the rising pop star at the speed of light. If you’re like me, a proud zillennial, you know her for sure from Disney’s Girl Meets World. If not, sure from her latest super songs, Taylor Swift tour opening, Coachella, her new & Bratz inspired looks, and, of course, her relationship with Barry Keoghan. Yup, that Barry, from Saltburn.
As unexpected as this couple is, their match at the Met Gala turned out so well. Sabrina wore an Oscar de la Renta gown and Keoghan was dressed in Burberry.
Alexa, please play Supermodel by Maneskin
Dove Cameron and Damiano David, another couple that debuted at this year’s gala, another couple that came out of nowhere. BUT WE ARE SO HERE FOR THEM. If she was a princess villainess in The Descendants, now she was a princess. Period. Both she and Damiano were dressed by Diesel. Talk about match in heaven, aww. Although debuting this year for him, he made sure Dove has the time of her life, even though she’s been through a gala before in 2022. WHERE SHE WORE A DRESS – Iris Van Herpen – HELD EFFECTIVELY IN THE SKIN.
Men, slay – the look, not the dragon
Met Gala 2024 Focus presents ground breaking stereotypes. Why? Why not. And so did Eddie Redmayne when he agreed to wear a tulle tuxedo dress by Steve O Smith. And the best part? He matched his wife.
Met Gala 2024 Focus: Style & Skills, double S-Class
Formula 1 Champion, one of the most fashion-savvy, detail-conscious athletes, everything he does is intentional and has a deeper meaning than our adoration for him. Ladies and ladies, Lewis Hamilton, in custom-made all black Burberry. Hamilton is well known for always adhering to the dress code while personalizing it. His commitment to how he presents himself to the public is 120%, and his Met Gala 2024 outfit was no exception. As such, he used the Garden of Time theme to honour Britain’s first black gardener, John Ystumllyn, with his outfit. The thorns, which can also be seen on the necklace, represent the “pain” caused by the slave trade, and a poem by Alex Wharton, called The Gardener, and inspired by Ystumllyn’s life in Wales, was sewn onto the inside of his coat.
Just a quick peak, cuz they are so fine
Aged like fine wine, indeed. That’s why we’re featuring them in this mini top. Yes, just because we love them. That`s all.
Charlie Hunnam in a Brioni outfit for his Met Gala debut. Simple but ravishing, coaxed by his lady to wear jewellery too.
Sebastian Stan in Cartier gives Matrix in Dark Fairytopia. Absolutely love it.
Mat Gala 2024 Focus: A-Class Disrespect
The zillennialist mix has nothing, NOTHING, over my K-Pop stan identification. If you’ve spent any time on the internet in the last three days it’s impossible not to have come across at least one Stray Kids and Met Gala related article. As a brief recap on them:
- 8 members
- K-Pop Group of boys, yes, from South Korea
- the first in K-Pop history to attend the Met Gala as a group, in addition to previous individual appearances
- not international, worldwide
- right up there at the top, near BTS if you know what I mean
- yes, they understand English
- 2 of them speak it fluently, being from AUSTRALIA
- they came with Tommy Hilfiger, they wore Tommy Hilfiger – all 8 of them
- individually they are images for other high luxury brands
- Tommy Hilfiger literally spoiled their tour – WHICH IS HUGE – in a very proud dad moment
- a ticket to the Met Gala in 2024 went for around $75k, a table around $350k
- Tommy Hilfiger hasn’t only came with them, please do the math
- highly talented, hard working, HUMBLE, too restpectful for their own sake
Now, tell me, what’s the difference between social media popularity vs. celebrity fame? If you’re still thinking, I’ve included some proof material below. Also, Stray Kids are Rolling the Stones, hihi.
Easter Egg Allert at the Met Gala
If you stayed to the end, I’ll tell you about a little easter egg you probably missed among so many S-Classed outfits 🤭 The Costume Institute exhibit has a piece you’re likely familiar with if you’re a Hunger Games movie fan. Okay, fine, I’ll give you three hints: Effie Trinket, butterflies, Alexander McQueen design.
