Met Gala | New York launches its extravagant parade of world stars

(New York) It’s one of the hottest stair climbs on the planet: The Metropolitan Museum of Art gala in New York kicked off Monday night with an extravagant parade of stars for an evening of philanthropy, after two editions disrupted by the pandemic.

The “Met Gala 2022”, in the heart of Manhattan, is already giving rise to a surge of images of stars dressed by major fashion brands, in chic, glamorous, implausible outfits or carrying political messages, on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met).

Dress code 2022 of this party among the most selective on the planet? “Gilded glamour”, words that refer to the “Gilded Age”, the American golden age of the end of the 19^and century.

The list of hundreds of stars from fashion, music, cinema, politics or the business world – mostly American – has been kept secret until the last moment: we are talking about Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Thee Stallion and Stromae. But also Elon Musk, Hillary Clinton, Glenn Close and Camille Cottin.

Priestess Anna Wintour

YouTuber Emma Chamberlain arrived in the first in a sublime Louis Vuitton dress, followed by the high priestess of the event, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Anna Wintour, in a Chanel dress.

It is she who validates the invitations. A formality for Rihanna, whose fans are hoping for an appearance with her rounded belly as a future mother.

Even invited, the ticket is expensive: 35,000 dollars for a place at dinner, 200,000 to 300,000 dollars the table paid by a patron, according to unofficial figures for 2021. That is a total of more than 16 million dollars, d ‘after estimates.

For the 2021 edition, moved to September due to the pandemic – after a total cancellation in 2020 – the show was provided by Billie Eilish, transformed into Marilyn Monroe with platinum blonde hair and a peach-colored train dress Oscar de la Renta.

“TAX THE RICH”

The muse of the American left Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also caused a sensation with her ivory dress, designed by Brooklyn designer Aurora James, crossed out with red letters to form the words “TAX THE RICH”.

In the pure American philanthropic tradition, the evening, which takes place on the first Monday of May, is intended to finance the Met’s fashion department (The Costume Institute) and coincides with its major annual exhibition. It was presented Monday morning to the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, who saw it as “a celebration of the designers and fashion who have shaped America’s true identity”.

Make way this year for an American “Fashion Anthology”, a retrospective of the 19^and and 20^and centuries of a hundred garments highlighted and revisited in an original way by directors and designers such as Sofia Coppola, Martin Scorsese or Tom Ford.

The gala comes as journalists and editors from Vogue and other Condé Nast titles (GQ, Vanity Fair, Glamor etc) launched a movement to form a union, which they recalled on social media with a Vogue cover pastiche: “Met Gala 2022 the longest working night”.

Eccentricities

On the steps, all eccentricities are possible. In 2019, singer and actor Billy Porter appeared as the god of the sun, spreading golden wings and carried by men with muscular torsos.

But who will match Lady Gaga and her striptease started in a large fuchsia dress and finished in black lingerie, lying on the steps?

Created in 1948, the gala was for a long time reserved for the very high society of New York, but Anna Wintour, who took it over in 1995, transformed it into a “people” event adapted to the era of social networks. . This year, the title of honorary co-president was also offered to the boss of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, alongside Anna Wintour and stylist Tom Ford.

The evening itself is co-hosted by a quartet of stars: actor couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Oscar-winning actress Regina King and comedian and musician Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Broadway hit Hamilton , and author of several musics at Disney.