Babe wake up! No, literally – the Met Gala 2024 theme is here, and it’s entitled ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.’ The first Monday in May will see fashion awake from its slumber, with 250 of the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, most of which haven’t been exhibited yet, out on display. But digging deeper than the puffers and duvet-dresses that will no doubt populate the red carpet, the theme is actually about embodying the rare, the fragile and the natural.
Revolving around three pillars: Land, Sea, and Sky, lead co-curator Andrew Bolton has described the theme as “an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion.” This semi-ambiguity, coupled with the fact that next year’s gala is in collaboration with TikTok, have opened the floodgates for internet speculation about who will be wearing what.
Looking at notions of “rebirth and renewal” as per the Met’s press release, it becomes clear that there’s scope for experimentation and a little shade. Will celebrities don brands of the past, aiming to revive them from the dead?
Or, as per the wider release, will sustainability be at the forefront of Met-goers’ concerns? Designers who repurpose found materials and place an emphasis on responsible design will no doubt be out in force – but other interpretations of renewal and rebirthing may also come into play.
Take the tens of fleeting, ephemeral and natural pieces in Alexander McQueen’s archive. From the razor clam dress worn by Erin O’Connor in Voss, so fragile that it took a custom team, project and build to transport to London, to the brand’s iconic Birds of Paradise gown worn by FKA Twigs to open the London leg of the Savage Beauty exhibition (which is still the Met’s most attended exhibition of all time), we’re anticipating lots of McQueen at the Met.
What are you expecting to see?
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