The 52nd annual Costume Institute Gala, also known as the Met Gala, took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on September 13, 2021—18 months after the 51st annual Met Gala was cancelled in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 edition of the Met Gala was the first to be held in September, since the Met Gala previously was held on the first Monday of every May. The event’s theme in 2021 was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” so guests were encouraged to dress in American-inspired fashions. The Met Gala is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This year, the Met Gala was co-chaired by actor Timothée Chalamet, poet Amanda Gorman, singer Billie Eilish and tennis star Naomi Osaka. It was the first time that Anna Wintour did not co-chair the event since she became Vogue editor-in-chief. Instead, she was an honorary chair with Tom Ford, and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. Here are photo and video highlights from the event.
Gemma Chan at the 2021 Met Gala’s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on September 13, 2021. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Zoey Deutch at the 2021 Met Gala’s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on September 13, 2021. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Kit Harington and Rose Leslie at the 2021 Met Gala’s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on September 13, 2021. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue )
Regina King at the 2021 Met Gala’s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on September 13, 2021. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
The 50th annual Costume Institute Gala, also known as the Met Gala, took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. Because the theme was “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” guests were encouraged to dress in campy fashions. The event is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This year, the Met Gala was co-chaired by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Serena Williams and Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele. Here are photo and video highlights from the event.
Kacey Musgraves and Gemma Chan at the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Forevermark)
Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez at the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
Regina King at the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Nina Dobrev at the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Lucy Boynton at the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage)
Tom Brady at the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)
Demi Moore at the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Ensemble by Bertrand Guyon and headpiece by Stephen Jones for House of Schiaparelli, fall/winter 2018–19 haute couture. (Photo by Johnny Dufort, courtesy of Schiaparellia and The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
The following is a press release from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
The Costume Institute’s spring 2019 exhibition, Camp: Notes on Fashion (on view from May 9 through September 8, 2019, and preceded on May 6 by The Costume Institute Benefit), explores the origins of camp’s exuberant aesthetic and how the sensibility evolved from a place of marginality to become an important influence on mainstream culture. Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on ‘Camp’” provides the framework for the exhibition, which examines how fashion designers have used their métier as a vehicle to engage with camp in a myriad of compelling, humorous, and sometimes incongruous ways.
The exhibition is made possible by Gucci.
Additional support is provided by Condé Nast.
“Camp’s disruptive nature and subversion of modern aesthetic values has often been trivialized, but this exhibition reveals that it has had a profound influence on both high art and popular culture,” said Max Hollein, Director of The Met. “By tracing its evolution and highlighting its defining elements, the show embodies the ironic sensibilities of this audacious style, challenges conventional understandings of beauty and taste, and establishes the critical role that this important genre has played in the history of art and fashion.”
In celebration of the opening, The Costume Institute Benefit—also known as The Met Gala—takes place on Monday, May 6. The evening’s co-chairs are Lady Gaga, Alessandro Michele, Harry Styles, Serena Williams, and Anna Wintour. The event is The Costume Institute’s main source of annual funding for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and capital improvements.
“Fashion is the most overt and enduring conduit of the camp aesthetic,” said Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute. “Effectively illustrating Sontag’s ‘Notes on “Camp,”’ the exhibition advances creative and critical dialogue about the ongoing and ever-evolving impact of camp on fashion.”
Exhibition Overview The exhibition features approximately 250 objects, including womenswear and menswear, as well as sculptures, paintings, and drawings dating from the 17th century to the present. The show’s opening section positions Versailles as a “camp Eden” and address the concept of se camper—“to posture boldly”—in the royal courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV. It then focuses on the figure of the dandy as a “camp ideal” and traces camp’s origins to the queer subcultures of Europe and America in the late 19thand early 20th centuries. In her essay, Sontag defined camp as an aesthetic and outlined its primary characteristics. The second section of the exhibition is devoted to how these elements—which include irony, humor, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality, and exaggeration—are expressed in fashion.
Designers whose work is on view in the exhibition include Virgil Abloh (for Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh); Giorgio Armani (for Armani Privé); Manish Arora; Ashish; Christopher Bailey (for Burberry); Cristóbal Balenciaga; Thom Browne; Sarah Burton (for Alexander McQueen); Jean-Charles de Castelbajac; Antonio del Castillo (for Lanvin-Castillo); Dapper Dan (for Gucci); Christian Dior; Salvatore Ferragamo; John Galliano (for Maison Margiela, House of Dior, and John Galliano); Jean Paul Gaultier; Nicolas Ghesquière (for Louis Vuitton); Odile Gilbert (for Jean Paul Gaultier); Edda Gimnes and Manuel Vadillo (for EDDA); Molly Goddard; Bertrand Guyon (for House of Schiaparelli); Demna Gvasalia (for Balenciaga and VETEMENTS); Johnson Hartig (for Libertine); Deirdre Hawken; Pam Hogg; Marc Jacobs; Rossella Jardini (for House of Moschino); Stephen Jones (for Giles Deacon, John Galliano, and House of Schiaparelli); Christopher Kane; Patrick Kelly; Ada Kokosar; Christian Lacroix; Karl Lagerfeld (for House of Chanel and Chloé); Mary Katrantzou; Rei Kawakubo (for Comme des Garçons); Tomo Koizumi; Bob Mackie; Martin Margiela; Stella McCartney (for Chloé); Alexander McQueen (for Givenchy); Alessandro Michele (for Gucci); Edward Molyneux; Erdem Moralioglu (for Erdem); Franco Moschino; Thierry Mugler; Alejandro Goméz Palomo (for Palomo Spain); JiSun Park and KyuYong Shin (for Blindness); Marjan Pejoski; Phoebe Philo (for Céline); Paul Poiret; Gareth Pugh; Richard Quinn; Traver Rains and Richie Rich (for Heatherette); Zandra Rhodes; William Dill-Russell; Yves Saint Laurent; Elsa Schiaparelli; Jeremy Scott (for Moschino and Jeremy Scott); Hedi Slimane (for Saint Laurent); Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren (for Viktor & Rolf); Anna Sui; Jun Takahashi (for Undercover); Michael Travis; Philip Treacy; Giambattista Valli; Walter Van Beirendonck; Patric DiCaprio, Claire Sullivan, and Bryn Taubensee (for Vaquera); Gianni Versace; and Vivienne Westwood.
Exhibition Credits The exhibition is organized by Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute; with Karen Van Godtsenhoven, Associate Curator; and Amanda Garfinkel, Assistant Curator. Theater scenographer Jan Versweyveld, whose work includes Lazarus with David Bowie as well as Broadway productions of A View from the Bridge and Network, created the exhibition design with The Met’s Design Department, and consulted on the gala décor with Raul Avila, who has produced the décor since 2007. All headdresses are specially created for the exhibition by Stephen Jones.
Related Content A publication by Andrew Bolton with Fabio Cleto, Karen Van Godtsenhoven, and Amanda Garfinkel accompanies the exhibition and includes new photography by Johnny Dufort. It is published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.
A special feature on the Museum’s website, www.metmuseum.org/Camp, provides further information about the exhibition. Follow us on Facebook.com/metmuseum, Instagram.com/metmuseum, and Twitter.com/metmuseum to join the conversation about the exhibition and gala. Use #MetCamp, #CostumeInstitute, @MetCostumeInstitute, and #MetGala on Instagram and Twitter.
About Gucci Founded in Florence in 1921, Gucci is one of the world’s leading luxury fashion brands, with a reputation for creativity, innovation, and Italian craftsmanship. Gucci is part of Kering, a global Luxury group, which manages the development of a series of renowned maisons in fashion, leather goods, jewelry, and watches.
About The Met The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world in three New York City locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Since it was founded in 1870, the Museum has brought art to life in its galleries and through exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and cultures.
Viola Davis on the cover of Glamour’s December 2018 issue (Photo courtesy of Glamour)
It’s the end of an era for Glamour, the New York City-based monthly magazine that began publishing in 1939: Glamour will no longer have a monthly print edition, as of the January 2019 issue, which will be available in late November 2018, and will instead be a digital-only outlet with the possibility of special print issues in the future. As first reported by the New York Times, Glamour’s parent company Condé Nast decided to shutter Glamour’s print edition due to the magazine’s declining newsstand sales and other financial problems facing Condé Nast, which lost $120 million in 2017. Glamour had about 2 million subscribers to its print edition and has about 20 million unique monthly visitors to Glamour.com
In 2017, Condé Nast ended the print editions of Teen Vogue and Self for similar reasons. In order to help alleviate its financial problems, Condé Nast is selling the magazines W, Brides and Golf Digest. For now, the company still plans to keep the print editions of magazines such as Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair.
The big changes at Glamour were foreshadowed in 2017, when editor-in-chief Cindi Leive stepped down, after 16 years in the position. She was replaced by former CNN executive Samantha Barry, who has an extensive background in digital and video journalism.
Glamour will continue to have its annual Glamour Women of the Year event, which includes a summit and award show in New York City. The 2018 honorees were actress Viola Davis, singer/actress Janelle Monáe, model Chrissy Teigen, March for Our Lives activists, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, activist Manal Al-Sharif, National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin and the women who took down convicted sex offender Larry Nassar, such as Michigan District Court Judge Rosemarie Elizabeth Aquilina and Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman.
The 49th annual Costume Institute Gala, also known as the Met Gala, took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 7, 2018. Because the theme was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” guests were encouraged to dress in fashion inspired by the Catholic religion. The event is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This year, the Met Gala was co-chaired by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Amal Clooney, Rihanna and Donatella Versace. Here are photo and video highlights from the event.
Olivia Munn at the 2018 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 7, 2018. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Luka Sabbat at the 2018 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 7, 2018 (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)
Lili Reinhart at the 2018 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 7, 2018. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Kiersey Clemons at the 2018 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 7, 2018. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Jasmine Sanders at the 2018 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 7, 2018. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Alek Wek at the 2018 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 7, 2018. (Photo by Karwai Tang/Karwai Tang/Getty Images)
Sarah Paulson in Town & Country’s February 2018 issue (Photo by Patrick Demarchelier)
The Boston Globe has published a major investigative article in which numerous models and others in the fashion industry have accused several high-profile fashion photographers of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. The photographers, who deny all the allegations, include Patrick Demarchelier, David Bellemere, Greg Kadel, Andre Passos and Seth Sabal. In addition, stylist Karl Templer has also been accused of sexual misconduct in the article, which was published on February 16, 2018. Templer also denies the allegations.
The harassment allegations include unwanted sexual advances (verbal and physical), inappropriate touching and sexual assault. All of the alleged victims, many of whom want to remain anonymous, say that the accused used their power to intimidate and pressure people into letting the accused get away with this behavior for years.
Demarchelier, who used to be Princess Diana’s photographer, was dropped by Condé Nast (parent company of magazines such as Vogue, GQ, Glamour, and Vanity Fair) after the Boston Globe contacted Condé Nast about the allegations against Demarchelier. Kadel has also been dropped by Condé Nast and Victoria’s Secret, another longtime employer of his. Meanwhile, Victoria’s Secret and Lord & Taylor severed ties with Bellemere in 2016, which suggests that the companies knew about problems with him long before the Boston Globe article was published.
The Boston Globe article comes after three other famous fashion photographers faced career consequences after being accused of sexual misconduct in incidents that span several years. In January 2018, Condé Nast dropped Mario Testino and Bruce Weber, who was also let go by designer Michael Kors after the allegations were made public. In October 2017, Terry Richardson was fired by Condé Nast, Valentino and Bulgari. The same week that Condé Nast cut ties with Testino and Weber, the company announced that it had revised its photography policy, which now includes no longer hiring models under the age of 18 and no longer serving alcohol at photo shoots.
The #MeToo effect on the fashion industry also raises a larger question of why there isn’t more diversity in fashion photography, which is dominated by men. After all, fashion photography doesn’t require any abilities in which one gender is more inclined to excel over another, compared to a physically demanding job. Why isn’t the fashion industry giving more opportunities to female photographers? It could go a long way in creating a more equal balance of power since photographers usually control the environments in which models are at their most vulnerable. Although women are also capable of committing sexual harassment, it’s been proven time and again that the vast majority of people who commit sexual harassment are men in power. Firing photographers accused of sexual harassment is a short-term band-aid when fashion photography still perpetuates sexism by letting one gender dominate the power structure instead of giving equal opportunities to males and females.
Bruce Weber (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for DuJour)
Several fashion publications have cut ties with photographers Bruce Weber and Mario Testino after the New York Times published stories from men (mostly male models) who accused Weber and Testino of sexual harassment, including unwanted groping and masturbation. Condé Nast (the company that publishes Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ) has announced that it will no longer work with Weber and Testino. Weber and Testino are denying the allegations. The news comes one month after the New York Post reported that Weber is being sued for sexual harassment by model Jason Boyce, who claims that Weber made unwanted sexual advances on him during a December 2014 photo shoot.
Weber (who is 71) and Testino (who is 63) both have famous international careers going back to the 1970s. Their work has been published in several books and all the top fashion magazines. While both photographers worked frequently with fashion brand Versace, Testino’s main client base consisted of European brands such as Gucci, Chanel and Burberry, and Weber’s biggest clients were mostly American brands such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch. Weber’s most recent Vogue (U.S.) cover was the September 2017 issue with Jennifer Lawrence. Testino’s most recent Vogue (U.S.) cover was the February 2018 issue with Serena Williams and her daughter Alexis. Fashion designer Michael Kors has also cut ties with Testino.
As a result of these and sweeping societal changes being made because of the MeToo movement, Condé Nast has revamped its policies for fashion shoots beyond the usual rules that forbid sexual harassment and other behavior that creates a hostile work environment. According to the New York Times, Condé Nast will no longer hire models under 18, and will no longer serve alcohol on sets. Any nudity or sexually suggestive imagery must be approved by the modeling subject in advance. Photographers are no longer allowed to use Condé Nast sets for their personal projects after an assignment ends. And people involved in the assignment are encouraged to prevent a situation where two people are in alone in a room together. In addition, a hotline has been set up to report complaints anonymously.
Hearst Media (which publishes Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Esquire and other fashion magazines) also changed its policy for fashion shoots: Independent contractors are now required to reveal any past and present claims of harassment against them.
In late 2017, Condé Nast also severed its business relationship with photographer Terry Richardson, who has faced numerous accusations of sexual assault and sexual harassment over the years. Almost all of his accusers are female models who worked with him. Richardson (whose work often includes graphic sexual imagery) has claimed that these encounters were consensual, and he has not been arrested or charged with any sex crimes.
