Every Spring, the internet celebrates the start of the annual MET Gala, a famed charity event known for its celebrity attendees and secret activities.
On Monday, May 5, 2025, the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts the Met Gala as a charity effort towards its very own Costume Institute. Starting at 4:30 PM EST/ 1:30 PM PST, various celebrities from every field – including sports, art, fashion, etc – have shown up to dress according to the theme. the event raises about eight-figure funds towards the program, with this year’s function ending at $31 million. But regardless of how impressive the sums are, what really catches the public’s attention is the apparel/decorations shown .
Every year, the MET Gala is assigned a theme, and is organized with the help of its celebrity committee/chairs. This year, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, ASAP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, and Anna Wintour were all co-chairs for the Gala. Lebron James was an honorary chairman. The committee this year consisted of Andre 3000, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jordan Casteel, Dapper Dan, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Edward Enninful, Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rashid Johnson, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Audra McDonald, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha’Carri Richardson, Tyla, Usher, and Kara Walker. The dress code this year was also decided to be “Tailored To You”, following the theme of the incoming fashion exhibit: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”. the media attention normally probes around what each celebrity was wearing that night and if it was according to theme or not. While many celebrities did a stupendous job, I believe that the ones that followed the dress code to a T had to be either Emma Chamberlain or Zendaya, who took the prompt and made it completely their own.
The MET Gala is an event that is known for embracing creativity in every form, explaining some of the unique apparel choices people have made throughout the years. But that creativity doesn’t stop with fashion. Another amazing takeaway from the Gala is the decor that goes according to theme. Although phones are not allowed inside the actual Gala, it has been revealed that there was a tower of narcissus flowers, arranged by artist Cy Gavin, in the entrance. There was also a painting titled Untitled (Sky) that was projected onto the ceiling. James Beard, an award-winning chef, created this year’s menu, pulling inspirations from various Black cultures. Guests were given hoecakes with chicken and cheeses for cocktail hour, papaya piri piri salad, roasted chicken, rice and peas for dinner, and a “Bodega Special Cosmic Brownie” for dessert. “I was inspired by Black dandyism and the Black experience in fashion—it’s pulled from so many different avenues and routes of the diaspora.” said Beard to Vogue. “I wanted to encapsulate all of that, from the hors d’oeuvres to plated dinner at the gala.”
