What is Met Gala? History of the event explored as event becomes the biggest fashion night of Hollywood

The Met Gala or Met Ball, officially known as the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising event typically held on the first Monday of May for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. It was established in 1948 by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert as a midnight supper to raise funds for the newly founded Costume Institute. The ticket price was $50.

Now, the Met Gala has grown to be one of the most prestigious and glamorous fashion events in the world. Many dub it “fashion’s biggest night” and the “Super Bowl of fashion,” and its ticket prices range from $75,000 to $350,000.

More details on the Met Gala

In 1972, Diana Vreeland, the then editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, joined the Institution as a special consultant and incorporated themes that corresponded with the Costume Institute’s annual exhibitions. This idea turned the Met Gala into a platform that allowed respected individuals in different spheres of society to express their artistic side and showcase fashionable creativity. The first themed Gala was centred on the works of Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Anna Wintour's 1955 addition as chair of the gala attracted several celebrities from various industries, including sports, music, film, and social media. Under Anna’s leadership, the Met Gala saw significant growth in its glamour and appeal.

The Gala gained an exclusive guest list, and every guest had to be personally vetted and approved by Wintour, making invitations to the event highly coveted. Over the years, the Met Ball has featured numerous iconic themes, including “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,” “China: Through the Looking Glass,” and “Camp: Notes on Fashion.”

Read more: 10 surprising things you might not know about the Met Gala

The 2025 Met Gala is scheduled to be held on May 5, 2025, in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, its theme being “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."

According to a press release from the Met Museum, Andrew Bolton, the Met Gala's curator, said:

“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style is our department’s first exhibition devoted to menswear in more than 20 years. The show also reflects our ongoing commitment to diversifying our exhibitions in a way that is authentic to The Costume Institute. What makes it possible to translate Monica’s book, Slaves to Fashion, into an exhibition is our collection of high-style menswear, which serves as a foundation for imagining and realising this important sartorial history.”

Prof. Monica L. Miller, who teams up with head Curator Andrew Bolton as an invited curator, further describes the theme for the 2025 event.

“Dandyism can seem frivolous, but it often poses a challenge to or a transcendence of social and cultural hierarchies. It asks questions about identity, representation, and mobility in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, and power. The exhibition explores this concept as both a pronouncement and a provocation. The exhibition title refers to ‘superfine’ not only as the quality of a particular fabric—'superfine wool’—but also as a particular attitude related to feeling especially good in one’s own body, in clothes that express the self,” she stated.

"Wearing superfine and being superfine are, in many ways, the subject of this exhibition. And the separateness, distinction, and movement between these two states of ‘being’ in the African diaspora from the 1780s to today animates the show.” she added.

Read more: Met Gala 2025: All we know about ‘Tailoring Black Style’ theme for even

ASAP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, Anna Wintour, and basketball icon LeBron James (an honorary chair) are the co-chairs of the 2025 Met Ball. Some of this year’s committee members include Chimamanda Adichie, Doechi, Sha'Carri Richardson, Regina King, and Usher.

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