, the lead chairperson of the Met Gala since the 1990s. The Met Costume Institute Gala is the globally renowned,
haute couture fundraising spectacle that serves as an opening celebration for the institute's annual fashion exhibit. The affair, increasingly attended by personalities from the convergence of
the arts,
tech,
social media, fashion,
high society, film,
Broadway, and music, has been held at the Met since 1948 and is considered to be the global fashion industry's premier annual
red carpet event, and as such, promotes
haute couture themes and styles. However, the Met Gala has evolved over time to include culturally impactful tastemakers,
influencers, and icons from all dimensions of the human existence, including sports, technology, business, and politics as well. The event's red carpet fashions are widely photographed, reviewed, critiqued, and emulated. The museum is closed to the general public on the first Monday of May to facilitate the Gala's festivities.
Anna Wintour, the former
editor-in-chief of
Vogue and the lead
chairperson of the Gala event since 1995 (excluding 1996 and 1998), has overseen both the benefit committee and the guest list, with
Vogue staffers helping to assemble the list of invitees. In 2014, the individual tickets cost US$30,000 for those outside the official guest list, after prices were raised by $10,000 to increase the exclusivity of the event. The annual guest list is limited to approximately 650-700 people. The cost of a seat per guest to attend the Met Gala rose to US$50,000 by 2023, and to $75,000 in 2024. A total of 225 approved photographers, reporters, and
social media participants documented the event for the documentary. All other attendees were forbidden from using social media at the event. Guests received notices about the restriction of
selfies and social media inside the gala. The no-selfie ordinance was extended to the following editions of the Met Gala. Despite the existing "No
Selfie Rule," celebrities including
Billie Eilish,
Dakota Johnson, and
Kylie Jenner have started the tradition of taking an annual
selfie in the Met bathroom. These pictures have become viral for their eclectic groupings of celebrities who are rarely seen in the same room with each other. A
no-smoking rule was added to the Met Gala bathroom after images of
Bella Hadid surfaced smoking in the Met bathroom in 2017; the rule was created and is enforced for
public health and safety reasons. As of 2018, Wintour announced that guests may not be allowed to attend the gala when younger than the age of 18. At the 2021 Met Gala,
Rosé became the first artist from the
K-pop girl group BLACKPINK to attend; she made her debut with a custom Little Black Dress. Since then, multiple BLACKPINK artists have appeared at the Gala.
TikTok star
Addison Rae also made her first appearance the same year, marking the increasing trend of social media influencer invitees. The 2025 Met Gala, titled 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style', took place on Monday, May 5, hosted by Anna Wintour with co-hosts
Colman Domingo,
Lewis Hamilton,
A$AP Rocky, and
Pharrell Williams. The honorary co-chair
LeBron James was unable to attend due to a knee injury sustained during the
National Basketball Association playoff season, but his wife
Savannah James attended on his behalf. At the 2025 Met Gala,
Shah Rukh Khan, accompanied by celebrity fashion designer
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, became the first male
Bollywood star to ascend the renowned stairs, although fashion designer
Manish Malhotra and Bollywood actresses including
Priyanka Chopra,
Alia Bhatt,
Kiara Advani, and
Deepika Padukone have made appearances at the Gala, along with Indian-American actress
Mindy Kaling as well as Indian tycoon heiress
Isha Ambani and fashion icon
Natasha Poonawalla.
Theme The exhibit is assigned a specific theme each year, with guests being expected but not mandated to follow. It includes a cocktail hour and a formal dinner. During the cocktail hour, guests arrive to walk on the
red carpet, tour the year's special themed exhibition, and be seated before the dinner party that includes entertainment from the preeminent entertainers of the day. The theme not only sets the tone for the annual exhibit, but also for the guests who attempt to dress in conjunction with the theme of the year, oftentimes causing runs on certain fashion themes among the world's leading fashion retailers. Sometimes, such as in 2013, with Punk: Chaos to Couture, the theme given is considered unclear or difficult to follow because it does not provide a clear stylistic directive. At other times, including in 2014, with
Charles James: Beyond Fashion, the theme may be far more challenging for one gender, as James made clothing intended for women. Although, according to Vogue in 2021 Met Gala: American Fashion, Andrew Bolton was "really impressed by American designers' responses to the social and political climate, particularly around issues of body inclusivity and
gender fluidity". The 2025 gala focused on
Black dandyism.
Controversies Controversies: 2009-2019 Models
Naomi Campbell and
Stephanie Seymour pulled out of attending the 2009 Met Gala at the last minute, in a show of support for designer
Azzedine Alaïa. After discovering that none of his work was included in the Costume Institute exhibit, Alaïa asked the models not to wear the dresses he had designed for them to the Gala and they chose not to attend altogether. Alaïa was well-known for having close relationships with his models, and his exclusion from the "Model as Muse" exhibit was seen as a snub. He criticized Wintour (with whom he had a longtime feud) for having "too much power over this museum." The Gala was disturbed by a streaker who wasn't able to make it up the stairs but nevertheless caused a commotion. This was followed by a fight in the elevator at the after party between
Solange Knowles and
Jay-Z. Security tape showed Solange speaking angrily to Jay-Z (the husband of her sister
Beyoncé) before hitting and kicking him. In 2015, the Gala's theme, originally named "Chinese Whispers: Tales of the East in Art, Film and Fashion," was renamed to "China: Through the Looking Glass." The theme was met with critics saying it was "A reminder of the subtle institutionalized racism that's been compounded by centuries of Asian isolationism across the board, and enduring Western stereotypes exacerbated by ignorance and the meme-able nature of social media." The 2018 Gala had a
Roman Catholic theme. In attendance,
Rihanna wore a pearl and jewel-encrusted robe, matching papal
mitre and necklace,
Christian Louboutin heels, an outfit designed by
Maison Margiela. Critics on social media called it "blasphemous" and "sacrilegious cosplay," even though the
Catholic Church lent more than forty
papal vestments from the
Vatican for the exhibition, and Cardinal
Timothy M. Dolan attended. American critic
Kyle Smith argued that the Catholic Church was in fact "abetting the mockery of its symbols."
Controversies: 2020-present The 2021 Met Gala theme was "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion." The American theme of the gala allowed celebrities to go in many different directions with how they chose to embody the theme.
Democratic U.S. Representative
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York attended the 2021 Met Gala dressed by designer
Aurora James. Ocasio-Cortez's controversial look was bold and targeted the attendees of the Met; she wore a white off-the-shoulder gown with the phrase "tax the rich" sewn onto the back in bold
red satin lettering. This look faced controversy as many thought it was hypocritical to condemn
wealth inequality while attending an event with a $35,000 ticket. In an interview, designer Aurora James explains how she thinks it smart to be able to deliver the message directly to those who need to hear it. The
United States House Committee on Ethics later determined that Ocasio-Cortez failed to comply with the House's gifting rule as part of this appearance by improperly accepting free admission to the gala for her partner and by failing to pay full fair market value for some of the items she wore at the event. In 2022, with the theme of "Gilded Glamour",
Kim Kardashian wore the gown
Marilyn Monroe wore when singing "
Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to
John F. Kennedy in 1962. The gown is the property of
Ripley's Believe It or Not. The controversy around the gown started when some noticed some damage to the gown. Other controversies came from the diet that Kim Kardashian had to adhere to in order to wear the gown. She claimed to have cut out all sugar and carbs, resulting in 16 lbs lost in 3 weeks. In 2024, the Met Gala was the flashpoint of the
Blockout 2024 online social media campaign, which promote blocking the accounts of celebrities who attended the event. The appearance of attendees after recent
university campus war protests related to the
Gaza war caused many to compare the celebrities to those in
The Hunger Games. In an opinion piece for
USA Today, columnist Nicole Russell compared the Met Gala to
The Hunger Games' wealthy
Capitol, and the rest of the United States and the world to the Districts of Panem which "struggle with consequences like poverty, inflation, homelessness and even war". At the 2025 Met Gala, red carpet interviewers
Ego Nwodim and
Teyana Taylor appeared to be unaware of
Bollywood actor
Shah Rukh Khan's notoriety in
South Asia and the
Middle East. Khan's fashion designer
Sabyasachi Mukherjee stepped in and provided the interviewers context in the otherwise good-natured interview, even noting that there had been nearly a "stampede" of fans waiting outside Khan's New York hotel. The perceived lack of adequate recognition of Bollywood celebrity by Western media at the gala generated widespread criticism in South Asia and the Middle East. In regard to the controversy,
Vogue responded that there was no intention to ignore or slight anyone. ==List of Met Galas==