Met Gala 2023: Fashion's biggest night honors Karl Lagerfeld
NEW YORK - Fashion's biggest night out returns with the annual Met Gala Monday night.
The so-called party of the year marks the opening of the annual costume exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Met Gala is always a chance for designers to show off their most dramatic visions, but this year's gala will honor one designer in particular.
The Met Gala has been called the biggest fashion event in the world, the best party of the year, and you know A-list stars will ring their A-game.
Last year's theme of gilded glamour brought outfits dripping in opulence. This year, it's all about Karl Lagerfeld, the iconic designer behind Chanel from 1983 until his death in 2019.
"In many ways, Lagerfeld is the definite designer of the late 20th and early 21st century. He brings to fashion outstanding universality and expertise that bridge the gap between art and commerce. And he did that with sophistication, with wit, and with passion," Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Max Hollein said.
The gala marks the opening of the museum's exhibition "Karl Lagerfield: A Line of Beauty."
One hundred and fifty of the late designer's garments will be on display along with his original sketches.
"We didn't want to emphasize Karl the man, who long has long been a subject of breathless mythologizing largely as a result of his own audacious self-invention. But instead, we wanted to focus on Karl the designer, and isolate a critical aspect of the design process that made him unique among his peers, namely his practice of sketching," curator Andrew Bolton said.
Vogue editor Anna Wintour has been in the maestro of the Met Gala for the past 24 years. This year, it's personal, as Lagerfeld was one of her closest confidants.
You can expect to see fashion Monday night mirroring his work for Chanel, Fendi, Chloe, Balmain and his namesake label, Karl Lagerfeld.
The iconic designer also had his own signature look - a white ponytail, white high collared shirt and black gloves.
"He created the identity of the fashion designer impresario that has become the blueprint of contemporary fashion, a blueprint that many designers aspire to, but very few will achieve, and even fewer, if any, will surpass," Bolton said.
Of course, it isn't just a fashion show. It's also the biggest fundraiser for the Met's Costume Institute. The guest list is hand-selected by Anna Wintour. Tickets are about $50,000 a hear.
Last year's gala raised more than $17 million.