A Complete Timeline of Met Gala Themes
See how fashion's biggest night has evolved since the annual theme was introduced in 1973
May 2023: Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
The 2023 Met Gala is set to celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, who died at age 85 in 2019. The accompanying exhibition will showcase the German designer's creations from his lifetime's work with brands like Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi and Chanel.
Some stars have deemed the focus on Lagerfeld problematic due to the controversial comments he made during his lifetime. Jameela Jamil voiced her outrage in a lengthy social media post following the announcement of the theme.
"Why is THIS who we celebrate when there are so many AMAZING designers out there who aren't bigoted white men? What happened to everyone's principles and 'advocacy,' " she wrote on Instagram. "You don't get to stand for justice in these areas, and then attend the celebration of someone who reveled in his own public disdain for marginalized people."
May 2022: In America: An Anthology of Fashion
The second night of the "In America" theme celebrated "Gilded Glamour." It was co-chaired by American icons Lin Manuel-Miranda, Regina King, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, who wore a standout gown inspired by New York City.
Lively entered the event in an rose-tinted copper Atelier Versace dress, but as she climbed the Met steps, the actress revealed that her look was reversible. The fabric unfolded into an aqua train that flowed behind her on the carpet.
She cited the Statue of Liberty as the inspiration for her look. "I thought instead of looking to fashion to influence the dress, I looked to New York City architecture and the classic buildings," Lively told reporters on the red carpet.
September 2021: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion
In the fall of 2021, the Met Gala returned after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions. Instead of restarting on the first Monday of May, the event made up for lost time with somewhat of a double feature in September 2021 and May 2022.
The first of the two-part costume exhibition invited guests to celebrate American fashion on the red carpet. Amandla Stenberg, The Hunger Games star, dressed in a caped tuxedo-inspired ensemble by American designer Thom Browne.
May 2019: Camp: Notes on Fashion
The Met's 2019 exhibition explored clothing through the lens of Susan Sontag's 1964 essay "Notes on Camp." Sontag defines the term "camp" as "love of the unnatural, of artifice and exaggeration." Camp, the essay explains, doesn't explore "beauty" but instead considers "the degree of artifice, of stylization."
Stars brought their more outlandish outfits to the red carpet to fit the theme in 2019. Kylie and Kendall Jenner, for example, paired up as a flashy duo in their vibrant feathery Versace looks.
May 2018: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination
Katy Perry added a divinely inspired accessory to her all-gold outfit: a pair of angel wings.
"I will just say she will definitely make an entrance!" Perry's stylist Jamie Mizrahi told PEOPLE prior to her grand entrance at the celestial event. "I mean you know Katy, how much she loves dress up and theatrics and kind of a production, so I think that is the joy in that."
May 2017: Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between
Rihanna dressed directly on theme in a look designed by none other than the night's honoree, Rei Kawakubo. The Comme des Garçons founder dressed Rihanna in an sculptured gown in florals, pinks and blues.
May 2016: Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology
Sparkles and metallics abounded at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first Monday of May 2016. The Manus x Machina theme inspired visions of futuristic fashion, and Lupita N'yongo stood out as particularly forward-thinking from head to toe. The Black Panther star wore a seafoam green Prada dress that glittered and fell into a sheer skirt. Her hair was styled into a towering, sleek statement look.
May 2015: China: Through the Looking Glass
The Costume Exhibition revisited its early explorations of Chinese fashion in 2015, and Rihanna's interpretation did not disappoint. The singer walked the red carpet in a bright yellow gown made by Chinese designer Guo Pei, her cape-like train draping along the steps behind her.
Five years later, Rihanna shared that she was hardly as confident as she seemed upon arrival at the 2015 event.
"I remember being so scared to get out of that car because I felt like, 'I'm doing too much.' I was driving past the red carpet and I was just seeing gowns," she told Access Hollywood in 2020. "I was like, 'Oh my god, I'm a clown, people are gonna laugh at me. This is too much.' I thought that. I circled like three times, I'm not even joking. Finally it was like, whatever let's just go."
May 2014: Charles James: Beyond Fashion
For one of her best Met Gala looks, Beyoncé went above and "beyond fashion" an all-black Givenchy ensemble with a plunging neckline and sheer, slitted skirt. Her dress championed the same revolutionary vision for which mid-century designer Charles James was known.
May 2013: Punk: Chaos to Couture
The 2013 Met Gala was made for risk-takers like Miley Cyrus, who wore a long-sleeved mesh Marc Jacobs slip. "I want to wear this every day," she gushed the night of.
May 2012: Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations
Per usual, the annual event pushed attendees to consider the principles of art and fashion as they dressed for the night out. In a flouncy, tiered Alexander McQueen look, Florence Welch brought complexity to couture.
May 2011: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
Met Ball mainstay Sarah Jessica Parker celebrated her late friend, the night's honoree, in a high-necked sparkling gown designed by McQueen.
May 2010: American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity
The Metropolitan Museum once again explored the diverse and evolving styles of American women in 2010. Among the elegant attendees were Oprah Winfrey and her date, designer Oscar de la Renta.
May 2009: The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion
Instead of centering a certain designer or era in fashion history, the 2009 Costume Institute Gala was all about the modeling icons of the 20th century.
"Models are not just faces and bodies. They have brains." Donatella Versace told The New York Times at the event. The designer dressed herself and runway star Cindy Crawford in long Versace gowns in shades of turquoise and blue, respectively.
May 2008: Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
Kate Bosworth's colorful Chanel dress looked like it belonged in a couture comic book. She shared a moment with Karl Lagerfeld, then the creative director of Chanel, as they entered the party.
May 2007: Poiret: King of Fashion
The 2007 exhibition looked back at the styles of Paul Poiret. According to former Costume Institute curator Harold Koda, the early 20th-century designer "pioneered a seductive modernity based on woman's self-confident femininity, and envisioned a 'total lifestyle' that extended from how she dressed and what fragrance she wore to how she decorated her home."
Accompanied by her husband Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa wore a floor-length salmon-colored gown, looking like the picture of modern femininity.
May 2006: AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion
Sarah Jessica Parker celebrated the British dress code alongside U.K.-born designer Alexander McQueen. Her date designed both of their outfits, which celebrated "AngloMania" with tartan fabric and, on McQueen, a kilt.
Years later, Parker reflected on the evening in conversation with Vogue. She shared how McQueen was an extremely shy date, and she was fixated on his feelings throughout the event.
"It wasn't a fun night. It was, but it wasn't. Because I was so nervous. I just wanted him to be okay," the Sex and the City alumna said of her fashion-forward date, who died in 2010. "He knew how I felt about him, and there was so much affection and such a deep admiration and everybody loved him because he was such a touching person."
May 2005: The House of Chanel
The Costume Institute paid tribute to another famed design house in 2005, and Karolina Kurkova's ball gown brought the love.
This was the first year the Met Gala happened on the first Monday of May, which has continued as a tradition ever since.
April 2004: Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century
Amber Valletta aptly channeled Marie Antoinette in a corseted gown with a busy, colorful skirt. Her look encompassed both the refinement and the indulgence of the theme.
April 2003: Goddess: The Classical Mode
The Gala took another year off in 2002, returning the following year with a divine theme harkening back to styles of antiquity. Victoria Beckham fashioned herself in a glittery, sheer minidress that glowed in front of flashbulbs at the exclusive event.
April 2001: Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years
The Met skipped the year 2000 and kicked off the new millennium in April 2001, entering a new era of spring-timed galas. For the exhibition, the Costume Institute borrowed Jackie Onassis's closet staples from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, putting her real wardrobe on display for museum-goers to see.
Hillary Clinton paid homage to her fellow former first lady in a leopard-print gown draped over in shiny bronze fabric.
December 1999: Rock Style
Met Gala attendees rocked the end of the 20th century with an edgy theme inspired by genre-defining musicians in decades past. Rockstar daughters Liv Tyler and Stella McCartne took the theme literally in studded off-the-shoulder tank tops reading "Rock Royalty." (Indeed, both girls can certainly claim that title since their fathers are Steven Tyler and Paul McCartney, respectively.)
December 1998: Cubism and Fashion
Art and fashion once again shook hands at the fashionable gathering in 1998, which marked the 50th anniversary of the annual gala. Claudia Schiffer wore a color-contrasting dress with a square hemline. Her date, magician David Copperfield, wore muted colors on his glossy shirt and tie.
December 1997: Gianni Versace
Salma Hayek made her Met Gala debut in 1997, and she immediately made an impression in a one-shoulder gown with a high slit. The look fit the fearless yet luxurious mood of the night's honored designer, who was murdered earlier that year.
December 1996: Christian Dior
Princess Diana only attended the Met Gala once, but she looked like a seasoned expert in an elegant silk John Galliano dress with a lace neckline and straps. She added her signature sapphire pearl necklace to the look, a personal touch that made her stand out in the sea of glamour.
December 1995: Haute Couture
The high-fashion theme of 1995 was both straightforward and vastly open-ended. However, there's little doubt that Naomi Campbell nailed the dress code in an eye-catching, show-stopping sparkly Versace number.
December 1994: Orientalism: Visions of the East in Western dress
In 1994, Vogue's Anna Wintour dressed in line with her interpretation of foreign cultures. She arrived at the museum gala in a black-and-white fur coat and lacy pink slip dress. The magazine editor adorned her neck with glowing amber-colored jewels.
December 1993: Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style
The museum celebrated the late former Costume Exhibition specialist for the second time in 1993. Icons Linda Evangelista and Lauren Hutton were among the partygoers who dolled up for the occasion.
December 1992: Fashion and History: A Dialogue
Christy Turlington channeled a timeless look for the Met's exploration of various eras of style.
December 1991: No theme
The Costume Institute was closed in December 1991, which meant that there was no exhibition to accompany the Met Gala. But the night at the museum went on anyway. Joan Rivers was among the night's attendees, and managed to look especially chic even without thematic guidance.
December 1990: Théâtre de la Mode – Fashion Dolls: The Survival of Haute Couture
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wore a crisp tuxedo to the French-forward celebration of haute couture. His wife Nancy, on the other hand, went all-out in a neon pink skirt fitted with a black bow. Above the waist, Nancy continued her theatrical look in a sheer polka-dot top with a ruffled neckline.
December 1989: The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789–1815
Anna Wintour attended the Met Gala a few times before she took over leadership in 1995. The style savant was already editing Vogue when she layered pearls over a sequined metallic top for the Napoleonic soirée.
December 1988: From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress 1837–1877
Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida arrived at the Gala looking like fashion royalty at the high-class celebration of 18th-century glamour.
December 1987: A Tribute to Diana Vreeland
In December 1987, less than two years before Diana Vreeland died at age 85, the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute celebrated its longtime consultant. Though Vreeland was reportedly unable to attend the evening in her honor, her opulent sense of style was embodied in the many looks of the evening.
Barbara Walters wrapped a fur shawl around her shoulders, which were exposed by her pleated gold strapless gown. The journalist's elaborate outfit was complete in its Vreeland-esque extravagance thanks to opera gloves and a statement necklace. By Walters' side in a black tuxedo was her then-husband Merv Adelson.
December 1986: Dance
TV host Lauren Ezersky stood out in her elaborate interpretation of the simple theme. Her guest matched her mood in a red tuxedo jacket and pinstripe button-up.
December 1985: Costumes of Royal India
Designer Bob Mackie accompanied Cher to the Met Gala in 1985. The singer wore a new version of her signature sparkly sheer dress, this time revised to fit the vibrant and ornate dress code.
December 1984: Man and the Horse
Fashion creative Candy Pratts and her husband, Chuck Price, arrived in style at the event inspired by hunting and horse riding.
December 1983: Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design
Paloma Picasso wore a gown designed by the man of the evening. Yves Saint Laurent himself was in attendance at the party for his retrospective exhibition. Speaking to the New York Times, he shared that he had no plans to stop making clothes.
"''I don't think of it as an end, but as a beginning,'' said the French clothing connoisseur, who died in 2008. ''Saturday I start my next collection.''
December 1982: La Belle Époque
Raquel Welch paired pearls with her leopard-print sequin gown for the affair, themed in homage to late 19th-century Europe.
December 1981: The Eighteenth-Century Woman
Journalist Aileen Mehle smiled with art heir Paloma Picasso and her husband Rafael Lopez-Sanchez. According to the New York Times, just more than 700 guests attended the dinner portion of the Gala, which cost $350 per ticket. (Page Six reported that the 2023 price of admission is $50,000 per person.)
December 1980: The Manchu Dragon: Costumes of China, the Ch'ing Dynasty
The Met kicked off the 1980s with a tribute to the last Imperial dynasty of China, the Qing dynasty, which ruled from 1636 to 1912. Diana Vreeland decorated herself with red accents and gold metal on her shoulders.
December 1979: Fashions of the Habsburg Era: Austria-Hungary
Jackie Onassis (who co-chaired the event in 1976 and 1977) stepped out for the Medieval European theme in a ruffled strapless black gown.
November 1978: Diaghilev: Costumes and Designs of the Ballets Russes
The Met Gala drew from Russian influence once again in 1978, this time focusing on the traditions of performance and storytelling. The event and its foundational exhibition — both guided by Diana Vreeland (pictured at left) — looked through the eyes of Russian showman Serge Diaghilev, who founded and funded famed dance company The Ballets Russes in the early 20th century.
December 1977: Vanity Fair: A Treasure Trove
The Gala's attendees wore their most extravagant ensembles in 1977, like Barbara Walters and Estée Lauder, who boldly opted for sparkle and color, respectively. The event paid homage to that year's elaborate Costume Institute exhibition, which pulled from the museum's own collection of items.
"We want you to imagine you were back in the time of these clothes, not in a thrift shop," then-curator Stella Blum told The Washington Post of the Vanity Fair display. "These were the great clothes of their day and we wouldn't be telling a perfect story with sweat marks or tears."
December 1976: The Glory of Russian Costume
Exhibition consultant Diana Vreeland donned a Slavic-inspired regalia decorated with statement jewelry for the mid-'70s occasion. She was joined by her son, Nicholas Vreeland (right), who kept his look simple in a classic tuxedo and dark denim pants.
December 1975: American Women of Style
Glowing in a bright white high-neck gown, supermodel Naomi Sims perfectly exemplified the dress code celebrating the country's stylish trailblazers.
November 1974: Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design
In a bedazzled, sheer ensemble with feathery fringe-lined sleeves and legs, Cher embodied the glitz and glamour of the 1974 Old Hollywood theme. The singer was joined by her gown's designer, Bob Mackie.
December 1973: The 10s, the 20s, the 30s: Inventive Clothes
The second Gala happened just a few months after the first. The theme explored the mood of the early 20th century and how that coincided with fashion. Attendees included fashion designer Halston and it-girl "Baby" Jane Holzer, who donned a fluffy white coat for the occasion.
"Everyone was gay, elegant and totally tuned into the new century," Diana Vreeland explained in an introduction to the winter Costume Exhibition of 1973. "The world was intoxicated with its new art, new music, new way of life and new clothes."
March 1973: The World of Balenciaga
The Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted annual events celebrating its Costume Institute during the 1950s and 1960s, but the gala as we know it didn't take form until Diana Vreeland joined the committee. The former Vogue editor-in-chief was the one who introduced the concept of themes for each gala, starting with a celebration of Cristóbal Balenciaga's fashion just one year after his death.
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