The Met Gala 2024
It’s that time again, my favourite event of the year has arrived! The 2024 Met Gala will be happening on May 6 this year, the first Monday. I'm gonna be exploring the theme of both the exhibition itself, and the Met Gala, which are different this year.
I’ll also update this with my favourite looks once the Gala happens. I have high hopes because the theme has a lot of potential. Of course, I will be slating anyone who turns up in a black suit or something equally as dull. If you can’t dress to the theme, don’t fucking show up.
Anyway…
What is the Exhibition theme?
The 2024 Costume Institute theme is ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’.
The exhibit will span 400 years of fashion history and focus on around 50 historical garments, all of which are aesthetically beautiful, but too fragile to ever be worn again. The time frame of the exhibit covers from the 17th century Elizabethan era all the way to the current day.
There will be around 250 garments in total, pulled from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, with 50 of these being the ‘main event’. Some of these garments have rarely been seen in public, which is very exciting.
Many of the pieces are going to be shown alongside contemporary pieces that reflect design elements of the exhibition garments.
The garment that inspired the exhibition, an Elizabethan style ballgown, is one of the pieces too fragile to be worn again, so it, along with several other pieces, is being displayed using a variety of different technologies.
Ballgown, Charles Frederick Worth (c. 1887)
One very exciting piece of tech they’ll be using is an illusion technique named Pepper’s ghost.
What is Pepper’s ghost?
Pepper’s ghost is a mirror illusion technique popularised in the 1860’s by it’s inventor, John Henry Pepper.
The illusion involves two rooms, one the audience can see and one that’s hidden. In the visible room a sheet of glass or plexiglass is angled to reflect the hidden room to the audience. A brightly lit figure or object in the hidden room can then be reflected in the visible room, giving the audience the illusion of a ghostly apparition.
This technique has been used in theatre, cinema, amusement parks, concerts and even fashion.
In 2006, this technique was used to display a life-size illusion of Kate Moss at the autumn/winter runway show for Alexander McQueen’s collection ‘The Widows of Culloden’.
McQueen and Moss were close friends, probably still are tbf I have no idea, and at the time of the show Moss was involved in a drug-related scandal. McQueen brought this idea to life as a gesture of support for Moss. This feat is widely considered as the highlight of the runway show, and a huge amount of effort went into creating it.
The illusion was a collaboration between filmmaker Baillie Walsh, production designer Joseph Bennett, post-production company Glassworks and production duo Gainsbury & Whiting. Plus, of course, Alexander McQueen and Kate Moss.
Moss’ performance was inspired by serpentine dance, a type of stage performance from the 1890s, invented by Loie Fuller. The dance used billowing fabric and dramatic lighting to get a dynamic effect, something McQueen and his team recreated extremely well.
Filming the stunt took two hours and went way over budget. Kate Moss was suspended in a harness and wind machines were used to billow the fabric of her dress. Because the illusion could be seen from all sides, and not just the front, executing the vision was that much harder. However, it was a rousing success, prompting frequent use of the technique after the fact.
What other tech will be used?
Along with Pepper’s ghost being used to revivify some of the garments, the Costume Institute is also using CGI, AI, video animation, soundscaping and many other things to really bring the exhibition to life.
How is the exhibit set up?
The exhibition will be shaped around three main ‘zones’; Land, Sea and Sky as it traces evolving attitudes to the natural world through the construction of garments. Andrew Bolton, Head Curator at the Costume Institute, has said “It is very much an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion” with regards to this year’s exhibition.
The Institute has recruited some of the best of the best this year. Nick Knight, founder of SHOW studio has been brought in as a creative consultant on the visual aspects of the exhibition, while Sissel Tolaas, known for her work at Balenciaga, has developed scents to accompany some of the key installations of the exhibit.
All in all, it sounds like the exhibition this year is going to be better than ever. I won’t be able to go, but if you do go and take a look, feel free to send in some pictures for this blog!
What is the 2024 Met Gala dress code?
The dress code for the 2024 Met Gala is ‘The Garden of Time’.
Contrary to some previous years, the dress code for the 2024 Met Gala doesn’t match the theme of the exhibition. This year’s theme comes from JG Ballard’s short story, The Garden of Time.
If you want to know more about the Met Gala in general, check out my blog from last year, The Met Gala 2023.
What is The Garden of Time about?
The Garden of Time is a short story by JG Ballard, who is most famous for his works The Drowned World (which I’ve read) and Empire of the Sun (which I have not read).
This short story follows the same dystopian themes as his full length works. The story follows Count Axel and his wife, who live a life of decadence on their beautiful estate which includes a lake and a garden. However, outside their estate, the landscape is desolate as far as the eye can see. Aside from an angry horde very slowly making their way to the estate. Aside from that, it’s desolate.
In the garden of the estate grow crystal flowers, with the ability to turn back time. When the horde gets too close, Count Axel picks one of the flowers, turning back time, and sending the horde back to it’s starting point - just beyond the horizon. We have no idea how long he has been doing this, but it’s been long enough that he is running out of flowers.
Knowing the inevitability of their demise once the last flower is crushed, Axel and his wife carefully put away their books, music, and other precious artefacts from their lives in preparation for the mob to descend.
It transpires that the Count and his wife have turned to statues, protected from the mob by a thick barrier of thorns and belladonna. The mob ransacks their house and garden, turning it to ruins, and by the time the far end of the mob makes it to the house, it is just as destroyed and desolate as the land outside the estate.
How will this translate into fashion?
Well, there are several obvious choices and some that could appear quite random.
Firstly, I’m expecting to see lots of jewel tones, crystals, and rhinestones. The crystal time flowers of this story are likely to be a big inspiration as they are one of the main focal points of the story. Of course, one of the main themes of the story is opulence so I’m sure most of the guests will be going all out in a way we haven’t seen before. I’m sure at least one person will probably come dressed as an actual flower (if you’ve seen the most recent season of Drag Race, you’ll know what I’m expecting).
I’m also expecting to see outfits themed around the concept of time. I have no idea how any of the designers are going to accomplish this as I feel it’s hard to translate such an abstract concept into fashion, but I’m sure we’ll all be pleasantly surprised by what the end result is.
The whole story is an allegory so I’m sure we’ll be seeing some more metaphorical and figurative interpretations of the dress code which will definitely be exciting, as long as it’s done right.
And I will, of course, be naming and shaming anyone who turns up in a black suit.
The Gala is on 6th May this year, so due to the time difference, I’ll be updating with the best looks on 7th or 8th May. Stay tuned!
