Past Met Gala themes: Many May first Mondays.
The Met Gala, fashion’s biggest night out, is eagerly anticipated every April. The Met Gala, also known as the Met Ball, is a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s spring display. The most anticipated fashion event of the year, this gala has been held on the first Monday of May since 2005 (excluding 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic).
The guest list is kept confidential until the occasion and is highly sought after. Anna Wintour, the president of editorial content at Vogue and the chief content officer of Condé Nast, oversees this event, where Hollywood celebrities and fashion icons dress to impress according to the annual theme. Each year’s subject is carefully chosen to honor fashion’s history and influence on society.
We’ve listed all Met Gala themes since 1995, when Anna Wintour became chair. View fashion’s biggest night out online.
2023: Karl Lagerfeld: Beauty Line
The Costume Institute will honor the late Karl Lagerfeld, a prominent fashion designer and creative director, this year. The gala attendees will dress “in honour of Karl” and have plenty of alternatives to choose from as Karl Lagerfeld’s archives include Chanel, Fendi, Chloé, Balmain, Patou, and his own brand.
Anna Wintour hosts every year. 2023 co-chairs are Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Roger Federer, and Dua Lipa. Alia Bhatt will debut at the Met Gala in Prabal Gurung.
2022: In America: Fashion Anthology
“An Anthology on Fashion” was the Met Gala’s theme last year, after 2021’s “In America” theme. The NYT called this “Guilded Glamour,” meaning the red carpet was full of gold. Vogue required white tie. “The 2022 Met Gala will ask its attendees to embody the grandeur—and perhaps the dichotomy—of Gilded Age New York,” the journal said. Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala walk in Marilyn Monroe’s 1962 “Happy Birthday” costume to then-President John F. Kennedy was the most memorable.
The Costume Institute’s head curator, Andrew Bolton, focused on diversity in fashion.
2021: American Fashion Lexicon
The Costume Institute’s Wendy Yu Curator in Charge, Andrew Bolton, said Vogue he focused 2021’s event on “Who gets to be American?” This was originally posed on a Prabal Gurung tenth-anniversary red, white, and blue silk sash.
He stated American designers lead diversity, inclusivity, sustainability, gender fluidity, and body positivity dialogues. “The show allows us to focus on younger designers who are thoughtfully and deeply engaging with those ideas.” Marc Jacobs, La Réunion, and other American designers contributed approximately 100 pieces.
Co-chairs Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman, and Naomi Osaka followed the night’s American independence dress code.
2020: Time and Style
The 2020 gala’s topic is worth revisiting: “About Time” examined 150 years of fashion for the Met’s 150th anniversary. Orlando, the 1992 Virginia Woolf adaptation, inspired Bolton. “I like Woolf’s version of time because it’s a continuum,” Bolton remarked. No beginning, middle, or end. One huge midsection. Fashion was always my thing. Current fashion.”
Camp: Fashion Notes
Bolton used Susan Sontag’s 1964 article “Notes on ‘Camp’” for her 2019 exhibition. The essay describes Oscar Wilde’s and Art Nouveau’s performance, excess, and winking bad taste. Off-White, Schiaparelli, Moschino, Dior, Thom Browne, and others displayed stunning items.
2018: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and Catholic Imagination
The 2018 divine theme featured hundreds of sacred treasures, including dozens of Vatican artifacts and antiques that have never left Rome. Rihanna was the pope and Katy Perry was an angel at the annual gala.
2017: Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between
The Met gala honored Rei Kawakubo, who calls her designs “objects.” Rihanna and Caroline Kennedy wore original items, while others adapted the idea through other designers. Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams co-chaired.
2016: Manus × Machina: Fashion and Technology
Tech ruled the 2016 Met Gala. Claire Danes’ shimmering gown illuminated the event, while Emma Watson donned a Calvin Klein Collection five-piece set fashioned from recycled plastic bottles. The exhibition featured over 100 haute couture and ready-to-wear outfits that contrasted handmade with machine-made clothes.
China: Looking Glass (2015)
An emperor-themed 2015 event acknowledged China’s influence on Western design. The Costume Institute and the head of the museum’s Department of Asian Art collaborated on the Chanel, Alexander McQueen, and Christian Dior Haute Couture exhibition. George and Amal Clooney, Rihanna, and others dressed in theme for a museum night.
2014: Charles James: Beyond Fashion
The museum honored a lesser-known fashion icon. With 100 of his best creations on exhibit, the Charles James theme was exciting. The 2014 party, co-chaired by Sarah Jessica Parker, Bradley Cooper, and Oscar de la Renta, featured sleek, large-scale ball gowns.
See all 20 years of Met Gala themes, from designer retrospectives to otherworldly celebrations:
2013: Punk: Chaos to Couture
2012: Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations
2011: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
2010: American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity
2009: The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion
2008: Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
2007: Poiret: King of Fashion
2006: AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion
2005: “The House of Chanel”
2004: Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century
2003: Goddess: The Classical Mode
2002: No theme
2001: Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years
2000: No theme
1999: Rock Style
1998: Cubism and Fashion
1997: Gianni Versace
1996: Christian Dior
1995: Haute Couture
