The 2024 Met Gala celebrated the Costume Institute's new exhibition, 'Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.'
Spanning over 400 years of fashion history, the exhibit features approximately 250 rare items drawn from the Costume Institute's permanent collection.
The pieces include designs by Schiaparelli, Dior, Givenchy, and more. Some garments that are too fragile to ever be worn again—such as a Charles Frederick Worth ball gown from 1877—are displayed via video animation, light projection, AI, CGI, and other forms of sensory stimulation.
Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, said that the exhibition is shaped around three main 'zones'—Land, Sea, and Sky—that pay tribute to the natural world. "It is very much an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion," he explained.
The 2024 Met Gala hosts were Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth.
They followed last year’s star-studded group of Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Roger Federer, Dua Lipa, and Vogue's Anna Wintour.
The latter has run the Met Gala since 1995, shaping it into the much-loved annual celebration of fashion that we know today.
In addition to co-chairing, Zendaya worked double on the red carpet. The Challengers star's first look was designed by Maison Margiela and acted as an ode to nature, with a towering headpiece tucked into a forest-green beret, a hummingbird on her neck, and fruits and vines draped around her deep blue-and-green gown. Her surprise second appearance was styled by Law Roach and sourced from Beverly Hills vintage clothing store Lily et Cie.
This year’s official dress code was 'The Garden of Time.' Inspired by English author J.G. Ballard's short story of the same title which he wrote in 1962, it could have been interpreted in a myriad of ways.
Still, as we can see from the pictures, many arrived at the event rocking floral and botanical motifs.
Even though the red carpet saw an array of colors, a handful interpreted this year's theme in black ensembles; stars like Juliana Canfield, Rosalía, Cardi B, and Dua Lipa wore black.
Rosalía explained her choice saying she wanted to embody lady Dior, but through the eyes of fashion designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, and described herself as "a black tulip."
