The Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual fundraising gala on Monday brought together Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams to explore this year's dress code theme, "Fashion is art," while livestreams made the exclusive event accessible to millions who could not secure tickets or guest list placement.
The event raises money for the museum's Costume Institute, with each year's dress code taking cues from the Costume Institute's spring exhibition. This spring's exhibition, "Costume Art," will "examine the centrality of the dressed body." The dress code called on guests to "express their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form."
Archive vs. Custom: A Creative Debate
The gala's fashion focus raised the question of whether attendees would draw from fashion archives or wear custom creations from fashion houses. Archival fashion has become a red carpet phenomenon, with fashion-savvy stars seeking rarer pieces of fashion history. Historical examples include Elsa Schiaparelli's 1937 collaboration with Spanish artist Salvador Dalí on a white silk dress with a lobster printed on the front, Yves Saint Laurent's 1965 shift dresses filled with Piet Mondrian's blocks of color, and Marc Jacobs' 2002 collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami to add his designs to Louis Vuitton.
Monday's carpet gave celebrities a chance to deliver their own performance art. The late designer Alexander McQueen was heavily regarded by fashion insiders as an artist, and he closed his Spring 1999 show with a piece of performance art in which machines sprayed Shalom Harlow's white dress with black and yellow spray paint as she posed on a rotating turntable. Past gala dress codes have honored designers and pulled from literature, and last year the art of tailoring was center stage with the dress code "Tailored for you."
Breaking Down Barriers Between Art and Fashion
The relationship between fashion and art has not always been embraced. Art historian and author Nancy Hall-Duncan wrote in her book, "Art X Fashion: Fashion Inspired by Art," that in the 19th century art was perceived as classical and fashion was frivolous. When Yves Saint Laurent held the Met's first fashion exhibit in 1983, the exhibit was met with heavy criticism. Since then, the museum has held countless fashion exhibits, and museums around the world have followed suit. The Louvre put on its first fashion exhibition, "Louvre couture," last year.
The dress code set by Anna Wintour and the Met's Costume Institute curator, Andrew Bolton, was described as the final seal of approval that fashion is art, according to Hall-Duncan, who said, "Isn't that a giant step?" and added, "It will indeed change perceptions."
Expanding Access Through Digital Platforms
For those who did not get tickets or a place on the guest list, the red carpet spectacle was available to watch online with the Vogue livestream. Ashley Graham, La La Anthony and Cara Delevingne were hosting the livestream starting at 6 p.m., with Emma Chamberlain interviewing guests throughout the night. The Associated Press said it would have a livestream of celebrities leaving a pair of New York hotels on their way to the gala beginning at 4:30 p.m. on APNews.com and YouTube, offering the first chance to see what attendees would be wearing before they reached the carpet.
Why This Matters:
The Met Gala's embrace of fashion as art represents more than celebrity spectacle—it reflects decades of work to legitimize creative expression that was once dismissed as frivolous, particularly forms associated with women's labor and craft. The shift from the criticism that met the Met's first fashion exhibit in 1983 to today's institutional validation demonstrates how cultural hierarchies can be challenged through sustained advocacy and public education. Equally significant is the democratization of access through livestreaming, allowing millions without elite connections or financial resources to participate in cultural moments previously reserved for the wealthy. This expansion of access through digital platforms creates opportunities for broader public engagement with art and fashion, challenging the traditional gatekeeping that has long defined high culture institutions.