Tonight is the annual Met Gala, a fashion extravaganza whose theme is always the same as the concurrent exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute. This spring’s 2024 exhibit is entitled Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion and is structured around approximately 50 beautiful and historically significant pieces from the collection that are far too fragile ever to be worn again. “These are the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ of the title,” explains Andrew Bolton to Wendy Yu, curator in charge of The Costume Institute.
These delicate and rare pieces are constructed of everything from feathers to twigs and real flowers, paper and straw, embroidery and butterflies. You may recognize some of the statement pieces from the late Alexander McQueen and his Savage Beauty retrospective
Cutting-edge curation and technology will give a deeper understanding of these fragile pieces – an illusion technique known as Pepper’s ghost will be used to revive some looks, while video animation, light projection, soundscaping, AI, CGI and other forms of sensory stimulation will provide a deeper context to each piece, according to Vogue’s Luke Leitch.
“Fashion is one of the most emotional artistic forms because of its connection to the body,” Bolton continued. “It is imbued with memory and emotions, and we relate to it very much via our senses. One thing I hope this show will activate is that sensorial appreciation of fashion.”
But what will the guests be wearing? Given the promotions behind the gala, flowers and leaves appear to be a large part of the theme. Flora has long been a part of fashion whether it’s merely a textile or pattern or a convoluted, sculptural, three-dimensional floral piece. Here are some fashion designers who have done an outstanding job incorporating botanical themes into their couture and any attendee would be smart to wear any of these past couture gowns:
Christian Dior:
Moschino:
Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen:
CHANEL:
Jun Takahashi:
Tomorrow magazines, social media and other publications will be filled with images of what the attendees wore which, like you, we can’t wait to see. The exhibition will be open to the public the day after the Met Gala, and will run until 2 September 2024.
And once again, as a reminder:
