Met Gala themes over the years: From Haute Couture to Karl Lagerfeld

The 2024 MET Gala is just days away. The annual fundraising event, with the distinction of being “Fashion’s biggest night out” will take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday 6 May. Organized by Vogue magazine, the gala brings together the world’s top designers, promising young creatives, models, A-list celebs and industry dignitaries.

Since 1973, each gala has followed a theme. Last year’s theme was ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ and this year’s exhibition is entitled: ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’ with the inauguration taking place on Friday 10 May.

The theme of the night serves as the dress code and the gala is a major star-studded event. Themes can range from a vague idea or category to a tribute to a specific style icon. The official dress code this year is ‘The Garden of Time’ - inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story of the same title, which Vogue interprets as floral prints, basically anything flowery - including real flowers.

With the big night less than a week away, while the designers add the finishing touches to their looks let’s take a look back at previous Met Gala Themes.

Met Gala themes: 1973 to present

1973: The World of Balenciaga

The first Met Gala theme featured a retrospective of legendary Basque designer Cristóbal Balenciaga who had passed away the previous year. Acclaimed for his precision, technique and perfectionism, the Spanish designer was regarded as a master couturier by his contemporaries with Coco Chanel saying he was “The only couturier in the truest sense of the word”.

1974: Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design

Heroes and heroines... Hollywood and the age of the silver screen was the theme in 1974. The Met Gala explored the larger than life history of Hollywood fashion.

1975: American Women of Style

Organized by Diana Vreeland, the 1975 exhibition celebrated imagination, originality, energy, freedom - the ingredients of style and the vision of 10 American women designers from the 19th Century to the present.

1976: The Glory of Russian Costume

Garments, accessories and photographs from across Russia was the centerpiece of the 1976 Met Gala installation. Russian traditional dress began developing in the ninth century and many examples were acquired and put on display.

1977: Vanity Fair: A Treasure Trove

Costume institute consultant Diana Vreeland put together an exhibition which explored Hollywood and society plucked from fashion bible Vanity Fair’s private collection.

1978: Diaghilev: Costumes and Designs of the Ballets Russes

Russian ballet costumes were the star of the 1978 Met Gala installation. Looking back to when Diaghilev first presented Russian ballet to Paris in May 1909, astonishing audiences with the striking, colorful designs.

1979: Fashions of the Habsburg Era: Austria-Hungary

The 1979 Met Gala theme was a lesson in European history and fashion. The show presented more than 150 costumes, uniforms, and military and equestrian trappings dating from the eighteenth century in Austria and Hungary to the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire in 1918.

1980: The Manchu Dragon: Costumes of China, the Chi’ng Dynasty

“In the land of jade, everything seems possible - and in many ways, more vivid than life” Vreeland noted in her forward to the catalogue of the 1980 exhibition - an extensive era of intricate and opulent Chinese fashion.. The Chi’ng Dynasty period in China marked the Asian country’s last imperial dynasty.

1982: Le Belle Époque

The 1982 installation focused on the period in French and European history that began in the 1880s and ended with the start of WWI. Le Belle Époque emerged from the dream and grandiose plans of Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann for the transformation of Paris.

1983: Yves Saint Laurent 25 Years of Design

Yves Saint Laurent became the first living designer honored by the Met Gala with a retrospective celebrating his 25-year career.

2022: “Gilded Glamour”

Last year’s Met Gala theme paid homemade to the Gilded Age in New York. This was also the year that Kim Kardashian wore one of Marilyn Monroe’s preserved dresses on loan from Ripley’s Believe It or Not’s collection.

2021: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion

In 2021, The Met Gala theme served to celebrate the evolution of American style throughout history. Many attendees focused on wearing infamous American designers.

2020: “About Time: Fashion and Duration”

Unfortunately, the Met Gala in 2020 was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, some stars showed off the outfits they would have worn if the gala had gone on.

2019: “Camp: Notes on Fashion”

The 2019 Met Gala sent viewers into a frenzy over confusion as to what ‘Camp’ truly meant. However, attendees came dressed in bright colors, big and bold silhouettes, and eccentric fabrics.

2018: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”

2017: “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between”

2016: “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology”

2015: “China: Through the Looking Glass”

2014: “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”

2013: “Punk: Chaos to Couture”

2012: “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations”

2011: “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”

2010: “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity”

2001 to 2009

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”

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Celebrities and the darlings of the fashion world will be out on the red carpet before the gala gets underway at 6 p.m. ET. It will be streamed live on Vogue’s official website (www.vogue.com), as well as on their social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can also follow the gala live on the online entertainment channel E!

In the days after the event, Vogue will be publishing several photo galleries with images showing red carpet looks, gala highlights, interviews and reels.

The 2024 Met Gala will take place on Monday 6 May at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Fashion enthusiasts old and young alike will already have the date marked in red in their diary.