Photo Courtesy of Vogue
On Monday, May 2, the Met Gala was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the first time on its normally scheduled date since the start of the pandemic. The event was headlined by notable artists within the entertainment industry such as Olivia Rodrigo, Questlove, Phoebe Bridgers, Sebastian Stan, Precious Lee, Cardi B, Cynthia Erivo, Billie Eilish, Jack Antonoff and Rosalía. The event was hosted by Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Regina King, joined by co-chairs Tom Ford and Anna Wintour, editor in chief for Vogue. Wintour was quoted the following day saying, “What’s wonderful about the Met is that people feel very fearless,” and she said that they saw some of the most unique looks featured at this year’s show.
The Met Gala first began the yearly show in 1948 and was invented by fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert, a powerful figure in the industry, among the ranks of today’s very own Wintour. The event was founded as a means to raise money for the Costume Institute, the only department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that must raise its own funds, according to Time Magazine. The night is known for its exquisite and oftentimes interesting, in-depth look into the world of fashion, with popular figures dressing in leading designer brands.
The main attraction of the gala is the red carpet, and thousands of people were sprawled outside of the museum in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite celebrities walk down it. Given the recent removal of many COVID-19 restrictions, this year saw a resurgence of the general populace flooding the streets of New York’s Upper East Side. with many going as far as climbing railings or construction sights and jumping on top of cars in their desperation to see.
At various times, law enforcement and construction foremen had to be called to the scene to remove spectators from hazardous building sites that they had climbed to achieve a better view from the ground. The situation was handled swiftly, and fortunately no one was hurt beyond some property damage.
The gala not only provides funding for the Costume Institute of the museum but also provides celebrities a night to network with each other, meet old friends, make new partnerships and celebrate each other’s work. The event this year also included a special appearance by singers Kacey Musgraves and Lenny Kravitz, who performed Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” to promote the new biopic focused on the cultural icon, set to release later this year, directed by Baz Luhrmann.
The 2022 Met Gala also saw the absence of major celebrities within the entertainment industry, including Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet and Taylor Swift. Swift was heavily rumored to be attending the show by various media outlets in the week leading up to the event; the hit singer-songwriter’s producer Jack Antonoff was seen at the event, leading to even more press during the show, but no appearance was ultimately made. Swift has been absent from the public eye since the re-release of her hit album “Red” in November 2021, but she is expected to make an appearance at NYU’s Class of 2022 commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 18, at Yankee Stadium, where she will receive an honorary doctorate in fine arts along with giving a graduation speech to the class. Swift’s last appearance at the Met Gala was in 2016 when she met her boyfriend and rising English actor in the film industry, Joe Alwyn, who was the inspiration for various songs in the albums “Reputation” and “Lover.” Many people have begun to speculate that she would make a surprise announcement at this year’s show concerning her next work to come. Fans will just have to wait with anticipation until her arrival at New York University in two weeks.
The Met Gala was a look into the return of normalcy despite the rise in recent COVID-19 numbers. Whether or not other shows will be affected in the years to come is something we will have to see, but until then, we can enjoy what was possible and the newest trends of next year’s show.
