With the recent announcement of the theme for the 2024 Met Gala, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” it appears that everyone is eager to see what outfits guests will showcase at next year’s highly-anticipated event on the first Monday of May. Does this imply that celebrities will grace the Met in Disney Princess and fairytale-esque gowns? Well, not exactly. In this reawakening of bygone sartorial innovations, breathing new life into pieces that have existed for the last 400 years, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute hopes to shed light on the fragility and ephemerality of fashion.
In line with the name “Sleeping Beauties,” the exhibition will revolve around 50 historically significant fashion pieces deemed too delicate to be worn again. Notable designs by Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior, among others, will also grace the Met exhibit. And with TikTok and LVMH’s luxury house, Loewe, co-sponsoring the event, it is understood that the Maison’s creative director, Jonathan Anderson, will have his non-binary and highly-modernized designs displayed on the carpet as well. Fragile fashion relics will dominate the 2024 Met Gala, alongside spectacular recreations that tie into nature and the Sleeping Beauty theme. So, what can we anticipate from our favorite celebrities? Perhaps, rediscovered, deconstructed, and reimagined archival pieces. There will likely be reinterpretations of historical designs once worn by icons like Marilyn Monroe or Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Another interpretation of the theme may involve guests donning nature-inspired ensembles enhanced by technology: envision flowers in clothing that can actually move.
While little had been revealed about new year’s Met Gala, including its formal dress code, CR has compiled a list of possible designs to grace the red carpet. Through these designs, a connection to archived fashion masterpieces is forged, aligning with today’s technology and evoking the multisensory essence of the natural world through clothing and textiles.
