Met Gala 2023: an absolutely breathtaking Karl Lagerfeld tribute evening

The most anticipated fashion evening of the year has finally taken place. On Monday, May 1, the 2023 edition of the Met Gala was held in New York.

Gisele Bündchen, Carla Bruni , Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway … The stars were numerous in New York on Monday, May 1, ^2023. All walked the red carpet, hung in white for the occasion of the Met Gala. A great night, chaired by the Spanish actress (and Chanel muse) Penélope Cruz, the English actress and director  Michaela Coel, the Swiss tennis player (and friend of Anna Wintour, organizer of the event) Roger Federer, and the singer British Dua Lipa. Earlier today, the Costume Institute introduced a select audience to the exhibition Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, supported by Chanel and visible from May 5 to July 16, 2023, in the New York Museum. To stick to this retrospective, which retraces the career of the German designer through 150 pieces designed for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, and his brand Karl Lagerfeld, the dress code for the 2023 edition of the Met Galawasentitled “In honor of Karl.” The opportunity for the guests to draw on the couturier’s archives and, at the same time, to promote vintage fashion.

Who were the guests of the Met Gala 2023?

It’s tradition: the Met Gala guest list is never communicated in advance and is discovered when the stars arrive on the red carpet. With the work of Karl Lagerfeld as their theme, from the beginning of his career in the 1950s to his death in 2019, fashion lovers hoped to find the brand’s most famous muses on the red carpet. And they weren’t disappointed. Carla Bruni and Gisele Bündchen, flagship models of the house, were there, Nicole Kidman, muse of Chanel N°5 perfume, climbed the steps of the museum in the dress she wore for the famous 2004 advertisement. Kate and Lila Grace Moss were dressed in Fendi, another house that Karl Lagerfeld led during his career, while Rihanna sported a long white dress and a jacket covered with 3D Valentino flowers. If the real Choupette, the sacred cat of Burma adored by Karl Lagerfeld, did not print her paws on the white carpet of the event, the actor Jared Leto appeared dressed in a costume with the effigy of the feline. Meow.

When was the 2023 Met Gala?

For two years, stars worldwide have had to skip the Met Gala in May. According to tradition, the event occurs on the first Monday of this month. Due to the coronavirus, the Met Ball was wholly canceled in 2020, then moved to Monday, September 13, 2021, the following year. To wait until that date, young fashion enthusiasts launched a look contest on social networks in May 2021. The goal is to democratize the Met Gala and make it an event where everyone can participate. In 2022, back to normal since the  Met Gala was held on Monday, May 2. The 2023 Met Gala, meanwhile, took place on Monday, May ¹.

What was the theme for the Met Gala 2023?

Each year, the theme of the Met Gala changes to match the exhibition it opens. In 2023, the dress code for the event was titled “In Honor of Karl” and honored  Karl Lagerfeld. A luxury introduction to the  Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty retrospective, which until July 16 explores the six decades of creation that marked the couturier’s career. The previous year, the theme of the Met Gala 2022 put American design in the spotlight as the event was held just before the launch of the exhibition  In America: An Anthology of Fashion. Its exact title? “Gilded Glamour.” In 2021, the Met Gala already had American fashion as its theme and was titled very exactly “American Independence.” It preceded the opening of the exhibition  In America: A Lexicon of Fashion which opened on September 18, 2021, when the Costume Institute celebrated its 75th anniversary. The 2020 Met Gala, which did not take place due to Covid, had the theme About time: Fashion and duration; the 2019 Met Gala focused on camp aesthetics, the 2018 edition was titled Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, while the 2017 Met Gala celebrated Rei Kawakubo, the founder of the Comme des Garçons brand.

Who were the presidents of the Met Gala 2023?

Karl Lagerfeld, Lady Gaga, Riccardo Tisci… The presidents of the Met Gala are always as prestigious as the guests who flock there. In 2021, American youth in all its diversity was in the spotlight as singer Billie Eilish, actor Timothée Chalamet, tennis player Naomi Osaka and poet Amanda Gorman co-chaired the event. The 2022 edition was co-chaired by American actors Regina King, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Lin -Manuel Miranda. A shock cast supported by Tom Ford, the president of the CFDA, the popess of Vogue, Anna Wintour, and the boss of Instagram, Adam Mosseri. For the 2023 edition of the Met Gala, four presidents have been appointed: Spanish actress (and Chanel muse) Penélope Cruz, actress and director Michaela Coel, Swiss tennis player (and friend of Anna Wintour) Roger Federer, British singer Dua Lipa.

Who was present at the Met Gala 2023?

Stars Worldwide had an appointment in  New York for the 2023 edition of the Met Gala ^on May  1. The dress code for this very particular event? “In Honor of Karl,” a theme that foreshadowed a succession of looks from the German couturier’s archives. The singer Cardi B and her black and white dress, a nod to the couturier’s signature costume, Jared Leto disguised as a Choupette, Dua Lipa in a vintage Chanel wedding dress, Kim Kardashian in a Schiaparelli beaded dress, Anne Hathaway in a Versace strapless dress… The public witnessed a veritable parade of stars.

When was the Met Gala created?

In 1946, with financial support from the fashion industry, the Museum of Costume Art merged with the Metropolitan Museum of Arts to become the Costume Institute. Two years later, the Costume Institute Benefit, also known as the Met Gala, the inaugural meeting of the first bi-annual exhibition, then annual, was launched. The intention is clear: this dinner in the museum’s heart is “the evening of the year.” It is undoubtedly thanks to the contribution of Eleanor Lambert that it becomes so. This ultra-powerful press secretary, nicknamed the Empress of Seventh Avenue, has a keen sense of fashion and communication. His journey bore witness to this: New York Fashion Week and took part in Truman Capote’s mythical Black and White Ball in 1966. His talent joined that of the great editor-in-chief of US Vogue, Diana Vreeland, who was in charge of the museum’s exceptional programming from 1972 until her death. In 1989, to put the event at the center of attention and make it so coveted.

Who is organizing this unmissable fashion event?

The Met Gala is part of Eleanor Lambert’s project to make the United States a benchmark in the fashion world. Little wonder, therefore, that it quickly became essential. In its wake, a succession of influential socialites at the head of the committee, including Jackie Kennedy and the socialite Patricia Buckley, participated in the event’s influence. But it’s only recently, since 1999 and the arrival of Anna Wintour at its head, that the gala has reached the scale it is known for. The editor-in-chief of US Vogue, known for her ability to reconcile the popular star system and fashion elitism, has won her bet. For its prestige as its extraordinary media coverage, the big brands and stars from all walks of life are fighting to get to this evening. As a result, the major red carpet is the scene of the most lavish sartorial extravaganzas and the stars’ scandals (we remember the quarrel in the elevator between Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Solange in 2014). For security reasons, but certainly for confidentiality, since 2015, smartphones have been prohibited there, which does not fail to arouse curiosity around the most significant evening of the year.

How to be invited to the Met Ball?

Unless you are a guest of a fashion brand or a designer, you have to pay. A great slot machine is behind the most popular party in the fashion industry. In 2016, the New York Times unveiled the prices for attending the evening, with an entry ticket from $30,000 per seat to $275,000 per table. Thanks to these sums, the Met Gala represents the primary funding source for the Costume Institute. It also generates tremendous traffic for the exposure it introduces. China: Through the Looking Glass exhibition, for example, attracted more than 800,000 visitors. An institution in its own right, the evening was even the subject of a documentary film, The First Monday in Mayby Andrew Rossi, released in 2016. This contributes to assimilating fashion into a museum material, studied, and preserved.

Where is the Met Gala taking place?

The Met Gala is held annually at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Those who have not had the opportunity to visit this museum have already seen it in one of the many audiovisual productions with the Big Apple as a theater. It is on its steps, for example, that Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen feed almost exclusively on natural yogurt and foment their little plots to be the queens of the Upper East Side in Gossip Girl.