On the first Monday in May, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art opens its doors for the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser to benefit the museum’s Costume Institute, and a launch party for its spring exhibition.
The Costume Institute is the only curatorial department at the Met that has to finance its own activities. The gala is its biggest fundraiser. The event was initially named the Party of the Year, but it’s only relatively recently that it fulfilled that promise.
From 1948 to 1971, the benefit wasn’t pegged to an exhibition and was held off-site at the Waldorf Astoria or the Rainbow Room. Guests indulged in fine dining and were entertained by “skits, raffles, and pageants of models in historic costume,” according to the museum’s records.
Former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland brought new glamour to the Costume Institute when she joined as a consultant in 1972. Vreeland curated some of the most ambitious exhibitions in its history and used the gala as an opportunity to inaugurate them, with designers and fashion industry insiders turning out in full force.
Anna Wintour, Vogue’s current editor, shifted the focus to celebrities when she took over as chairwoman in 1999, recruiting A-list co-chairs and through the years inviting stars such as Lady Gaga, Billy Porter and Kim Kardashian to attract more attention to the event.
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