The 2024 Met Gala theme, hosts and guest list

The connection with ‘The Garden of Time’ is that the story touches on a similar theme as the exhibition: the evolution of human history and the endless cycle of creation and destruction.

Below, we round up everything you need to know about the Met Gala 2024. From the theme to the hosts, here are all the details from fashion’s biggest night.

What is the Met Gala?

The Met Gala, also known as the Costume Institute Benefit or the Met Ball, is a charity event held every spring at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City – and always makes for one of the most exciting celebrity fashion events in history. the year.

Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid at the 2021 Met Gala

Often referred to as the ‘Oscars of fashion’, the event attracts the biggest A-list names, who dress according to a set theme, usually in bespoke creations from the world’s most impactful fashion designers. In previous years, guests have dressed around the themes of ‘punk’, ‘camp’ and ‘heavenly bodies’, while there have also been events paying tribute to specific designers including Alexander McQueen, Karl Lagerfeld and Rei Kawakubo.

The ball raises millions for the Costume Institute at the Met – which holds an annual accompanying exhibition – through the sale of tickets, which are purchased by designers and brands. Tickets cost about $35,000 each, with tables ranging from $200,000 to $300,000.

Law Roach and Zendaya at the 2019 Met Gala

What is the 2024 Met Gala theme?

The exhibition’s theme, ‘Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion’, will not only celebrate fashion history by showcasing some of the most beautiful archival designs ever created, but will also give a nod to the natural world and how it is shaped into certain materials and has a inspired design. As a result, the exhibition will also focus on the need for sustainability in fashion and look at the evolution of human history and the endless cycle of creation and destruction. That’s why the decoration theme is ‘The Garden of Time’.

“It is very much an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion,” said Bolton, explaining that the exhibition will be designed around three zones: land, sea and sky. Each zone symbolizes the material used in it to make the garments.

Historical garments are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

There will be around 250 objects on display in the museum, many of which have never been on display before. One of the most fragile of these is an Elizabethan bodice and silk satin ball gown from 1877 by American couturier Charles Frederick Worth.

According to a press release, the Met will also use video animation, light projection, soundcaping, artificial intelligence and CGI to “weave a contextual fabric of understanding around each piece.”

What was last year’s Met Gala theme?

The full title of the spring 2023 exhibition theme was ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ and was a tribute to the prolific designer who passed away in 2019 at the age of 85. One of the most celebrated fashion designers of all time, he led some of the world’s biggest fashion houses, including Fendi, Chanel and his own eponymous label, all three of which he served as creative director until his death.

The exhibition paid tribute to his genius, while the accompanying gala featured hundreds of his close friends and collaborators – from Nicole Kidman to Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bundchen – on the red carpet, inspired by some of his most iconic designs, and celebrated his life’s work by what they chose to wear that evening.

Dua Lipa at the 2023 Met Gala honoring Karl Lagerfeld

Others chose to collaborate with the fashion houses with which Lagerfeld was so closely associated; Margot Robbie was a custom Chanel, Allison Williams wore a Patou dress, Kate Moss wore Fendi and Cara Delevingne wore a Karl Lagerfeld Couture design.

Head here to see every look from last year’s Met Gala.

Nicole Kidman at the 2023 Met Gala

Who hosted the 2024 Met Gala?

Each year there are multiple A-listers who host the evening, and this year’s lineup is incredibly stylish with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth and Bad Bunny serving as co-chairs for the evening. The evening’s sponsors were TikTok and Loewe, meaning we were treated to an array of designs from Jonathan Anderson, who dressed everyone from Ariana Grande to Greta Lee, Taylor Russell and Ambika Mod.

Jennifer Lopez was one of the co-hosts of the 2024 Met Gala

How did guests interpret the 2024 Met Gala theme?

Given the obvious references to the natural world, we saw plenty of floral motifs in this year’s red carpet looks (Demi Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Ayo Edebiri), while many guests strayed to the darker side of the spectrum (Zendaya, Lana del Rey , Cardi B), embracing the sense of transience evident in the theme (read more about that here).

Zendaya at the 2024 Met Gala

Other clever interpretations that nodded to the theme of time included Tyla’s hourglass-themed dress and Mindy Kaling’s ‘Melting Flower of Time’ dress by Indian couturier Gaurav Gupta. The likes of Nicole Kidman, Kendall Jenner and Iris Law looked into the archives and stepped out in vintage or vintage-inspired fashion, while there were fairytale versions of the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ theme from Phoebe Dynevor, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Elle Fanning .

See all the red carpet looks from the 2024 Met Gala here, and check out our picks of the evening’s 10 best dressed here.