MUSINGS: CLOUT-Y WITH A CHANCE OF MET BALLS: FASHION AND FUNDRAISING’S BIGGEST NIGHT

Sew What | Chloé Houde

I might be late in realizing this, but I only recently found out that the Met Ball is an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and not just a fancy red carpet night for designers and celebrities to show off beautiful, over-the-top, statement-making outfits. The Met Ball, also known as the Met Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual themed event held on the first Monday of May to raise funds for the Met's Costume Institute and to kick off its annual exhibition. The event raises enormous amounts of money annually, which goes towards funding exhibitions, acquisitions, and capital improvements for the Institute. The Gala raised $US12 million in 2014 and over US$13 million in 2019. The Costume Institute is also the Met's only curatorial department that is responsible for its own fundraising, presumably due to the Gala's success. I was struck by the contrast between what I thought a fundraising event looked like and what the Costume Institute hosts every year. How did a museum fundraiser become one of the most mainstream, exclusive, and anticipated global fashion events of the year while also becoming ubiquitous in popular culture?

Gown by Chinese designer Guo Pei in the "China: Through the Looking Glass" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015 | Source

The Costume Institute, originally the Museum of Costume Art, joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1946. At the time, charity events were hugely popular with New York socialites, who used philanthropic events to elevate their social status and retain relevance in high society. From its first iteration in 1948 as a benefit party, the Costume Institute's annual fundraiser remained an attractive socialite-centered event for decades. From 1972 to 1989, Diana Vreeland, special consultant to the Institute, greatly elevated the event. She transformed the benefit supper into a theme party linked to the theme of the Institute's yearly exhibition. The event garnered more notoriety and excitement throughout Vreeland's time at the Met, as both an art and social affair that became more international and open to celebrity. When Anna Wintour became the co-chair of the Met Gala in 1995, and took over leadership in 1999, the event veered its trajectory towards what we know it to be today. Anna Wintour has been the editor in chief of Vogue Magazine since 1988 and the artistic director of Condé Nast since 2013. Wintour wields an undeniable grip on the world of fashion through these positions, and the Met Gala is no exception.

The Costume Institute's website | Source

Under Wintour's direction, the event has become much more exclusive. Over the years, Wintour has implemented a strict dress code, banned personal photography during the event (although some celebs sneak selfies in the bathroom), has made ticket and table prices more expensive (individual tickets jumped from US$15,000 to US$25,000 in 2014, up to US$30,000 in 2018, and tables went for US$275,000 in 2019), and she personally approves every single guest that attends (there are between 600-700 guests annually). Wintour is also responsible for making the event celebrity-focused, in a stark departure from the socialite event it had previously been (which some have lamented). It is now virtually impossible to buy individual tickets to the Gala, since companies and designers will buy tables and invite Wintour-approved celebrities to the event to model their creations. Wintour exerts immense control over the Gala, which has received criticism over the years.

The Met Gala is now inextricably tied to the contemporary world of fashion and design, more than it had ever previously been. Being seen at this event has long carried a heavy social importance for individuals, but nowadays, having a presence at the fashion event of the year is an unmissable marketing opportunity for designers, brands, and companies. It also carries much significance in determining a celebrity's relevance at a particular moment. The Met Gala is closely followed by millions of spectators, and has resulted in unforgettable and iconic moments for many celebrities that persist in popular memory.

Recent tweets highlighting Met Gala outfits worn by Kacey Musgraves, Zendaya, and Emily Ratajkowski from the past few years | Source, Source, Source

It is easy to miss the fact that the Met Gala is a museum fundraiser when there is so much notoriety, popularity, celebrity, and exclusivity tied to the event. Nicknamed "the Oscars of the East Coast," the Costume Institute Benefit is now considered part of the roster of yearly red carpet events, where famous people parade designer clothing. Anna Wintour's control looms large over the event, which has had the effect of closely associating the Met Gala with Vogue Magazine. Wintour has employed similar strategies for popularizing the Met Gala and Vogue; she was one of the first fashion magazine editors to have celebrities on cover pages, rather than models, and was the one who made the Gala the celebrity-saturated affair it is today. This association to celebrity has had the effect of bringing these cultural products out of their respective niches and into popular culture. It seems to be a symbiotic relationship masterminded by Anna Wintour; Vogue benefits from being associated with the enormously high profile Met Gala, celebrities add notoriety while adding to their own relevance, and the Costume Institute reaps the funding and exposure generated by this ever-prominent event. The Gala and the corresponding exhibition are so reliant on big corporate sponsorships that Wintour is consulted and signs off on the theme of the Costume Institute's yearly exhibition so that she can find appropriate sponsors. Her impact is present at every level. This degree of commercialism and control isn't without criticism, however.

Another important factor in the Met Gala's popularity is its relationship to fashion, which, as a topic of interest, is popular, visually engaging, and accessible to wide audiences. Fashion affects us whether we realize it or not, which the fictional Miranda Priestly (based on the real life Anna Wintour) reminds us of in the famous "Blue Sweater" scene from the movie The Devil Wears Prada. Fashion is ubiquitous in celebrity culture as well, and seeing both come together so obviously and opulently at the Met Gala makes for a blockbuster affair. Every year (except this year, for obvious reasons), on the first Monday of May, the world watches as the Costume Institute Benefit congregates a themed flurry of celebrities, artists, high-powered individuals, designers, brands, outfits, works of art, innovations, and lots and lots of money to create a monumental spectacle. Hard to believe it all started as a benefit supper, right?

I may be wrong, but I (sadly) can't imagine a fundraiser for any other museum generating a cultural impact (or as much money) as the Met Gala.