Dive into the Met Gala 2024’s theme, ‘The Garden of Time,’ as you explore the colourful, elegant, and creative outfits by the major fashion designers worn by the biggest celebrities at the moment.
What is the Met Gala?
The Met Gala has become more widely known as the year’s biggest fashion event. The annual event takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in Manhattan, New York City.
Invitations for this event are not easily acquired and only a selected amount of celebrities are chosen to receive an invitation.
Every year, a new theme is chosen for the Met Gala. This year’s theme is ‘The Garden of Time’. The celebrities walking the carpet are expected to display the theme in some way. However, the theme is often up to a broad interpretation and can have many different outcomes.
In addition, the Met Gala is also a fundraising event for the museum’s fashion department.
Revisiting last year’s Met Gala
Last year’s Met Gala celebrated the legacy of Karl Lagerfeld under the theme ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.’
Most outfits from last year were characterized by classic looks but with different shapes and cut-outs.
One artist specifically stood out as Doja Cat entered the carpet in a white Oscar De La Renta dress with facial prosthetics shaped to make her look like a cat. Unusual but creative and impressive while being very fitting for the artist.
This year’s co-chairs
Every year a group of co-chairs are selected which this year were Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth and Bad Bunny.
As stated in an article from The New York Times, the co-chairs are handpicked by Anna Wintour and typically some of the first guests to arrive.
“The Garden of Time” theme
This year’s theme is inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1962 story “The Garden of Time.”
In an article for Literary Hub, the story is described as “an elegiac story about (naturally) the passage of time, and (inevitably) the fragility of human life, and (specifically) the fall of the aristocracy.”
This theme could be interpreted in many different ways. However, many celebrities took inspiration from the “Garden” part of the theme. Florals, earthy colours and nature-like shapes were especially in focus.
Fashion highlights from the 2024 Met Gala
As mentioned, many chose to play into the natural theme of the Met Gala.
Others chose to take more inspiration from fairy tales or the fantasy world. You get the feeling of Alice falling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland when seeing some of these looks.
Check out some of the highlights from the night and find your favorites.
Cardi B
Cardi B arrived in an extravagant black gown combined with a tall black headpiece by Windowsen.
According to Vanity Fair, the rapper arrived just at the last minute before the end of the red carpet.
She managed to impress photographers and livestream watchers with her dramatic gown that multiple men helped carry onto the carpet.
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny’s black Maison Margiela suit with red stripes down the pants looked both classic and modern on the carpet.
The accessories, a black hat, black leather gloves and diamond-shaped glasses added a unique touch to a classic suit.
Also, the white pencil markings on the suit create a more unorthodox and imperfect look that still looks fully intentional.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande plunged into the world of fantasy in an enchanting light dress paired with ethereal pieces around her eyes.
As mentioned by Kase Wickman from Vanity Fair, Grande explained how this look “was inspired by Glinda’s signature magical bubble, which she uses to travel.”
With the first official teaser for the movie Wicked released this year, it seems only fitting for Grande to draw inspiration from the famous Broadway musical.
Zendaya’s outfit change
For this year’s Met Gala, co-chair Zendaya put the tennis-inspired red carpet gowns on the shelf and opted for two different outfits. Both had a darker twist on the theme, with inspiration drawn from nature.
The first outfit, a dark blue and green dress in a mermaid silhouette, was paired with darker make-up and accessories in the form of dark olives with branches. The look became a mixture of a siren, Greek goddess and couture.
According to an article from Vogue, Zendaya’s second outfit was “a never-before-worn vintage Givenchy couture from its spring 1996 collection, one of two collections that Galliano designed for the house.”
This dress was simpler in its black colour yet equally extravagant in its large volume paired with the colourful headpiece.
Reactions to the Met Gala 2024
Every year many people go to social media to react and review the outfits of the evening and this year is not any different.
Some create memes while many people go to TikTok to rate the outfits.
