Find Out the Real Meaning Behind the 2024 Met Gala Theme

Fashion will be reawakening on the first Monday in May.

The Costume Institute Benefit aka the Met Gala will be celebrating "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" at the star-studded event in 2024. And if you're wondering whether the title was inspired by the Disney princess Aurora, that is not the case! From the theme to the date, here is everything to know before the stars descend upon the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

When is the 2024 Met Gala?

The Met Gala is held on the first Monday in May, which in 2024 lands on May 6.

Where does the Met Gala take place?

The glamorous event is held at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is located on Fifth Avenue.

What is the 2024 Met Gala theme?

The theme for the next Met Gala is "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." It's anyone's guess at this point how attendees will interpret said theme, but perhaps someone will draw inspiration from Audrey Hepburn's pajama look in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Or maybe someone will show up as Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. You never know!

What is 'Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion'?

"Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" is an exhibit that will open at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in May 2024. The Met’s CEO Max Hollein has teased that the exhibition "will push the boundaries of our imagination and invite us to experience the multisensory facets of a garment, many of which get lost when entering a museum collection as an object."

The idea is to essentially bring museum pieces—the "sleeping beauties"—back to life through means other than wearing them, since they're too fragile for that.

"Sleeping Beauties will heighten our engagement with these masterpieces of fashion by evoking how they feel, move, sound, smell and interact when being worn, ultimately offering a deeper appreciation of the integrity, beauty and artistic brilliance of the works on display," Hollein explained.

Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu Curator in Charge, seconded that explanation in a press release.

"The exhibition endeavors to reanimate these artworks by re-awakening their sensory capacities through a diverse range of technologies, affording visitors sensorial ‘access’ to rare historical garments and rarefied contemporary fashions. By appealing to the widest possible range of human senses, the show aims to reconnect with the works on display as they were originally intended—with vibrancy, with dynamism, and ultimately with life."

What's featured in the 'Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion' exhibition?

Approximately 250 garments and accessories, spanning 400 years, will be on display. The exhibit will feature pieces by Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney, Connor Ives, Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy and other fashion creators.

According to the Met, the items on view will be "visually united by iconography related to nature, which will serve as a metaphor for the fragility and ephemerality of fashion."

Bolton has revealed (via Vogue) that the spring 2024 exhibit will be structured around approximately 50 historical pieces, including an Elizabethan bodice and a silk satin ballgown from 1877. The "sleeping beauties" will be displayed in glass "coffins," while an illusion technique known as Pepper’s ghost, in which an image of an object is projected so that it appears to be in front of its viewers, will bring some other beauties back to life.

The museum revealed on Nov. 8 that the upcoming exhibit will utilize "first-hand research, conservation analysis, and diverse technologies—from cutting-edge tools, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and computer-generated imagery to traditional formats of x-rays, video animation, light projection, and soundscapes—to reactivate the sensory capacities of masterworks in the Museum’s collection."

What is the Met Gala?

Fashion's biggest night of the year marks the opening of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition.

When will the 2024 exhibition open?

The Costume Institute’s "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open to the public on May 10 and run through Sept. 2, 2024.

Related: From Eye-Catching to Head-Scratching, Check Out the 2023 Met Gala Red Carpet Fashions

What does the Met Gala benefit?

The annual Costume Institute Benefit is the primary source of funding for the department's exhibitions, as well as acquisitions and capital improvements.

Who are the Met Gala 2024 co-chairs?

The 2024 co-chairs will be announced in the coming months.

Penélope Cruz, Dua Lipa, Roger Federer and Michaela Coel co-chaired the 2023 gala along with Vogue's Anna Wintour.

How much is a ticket to the Met Gala?

Page Six reported in 2023 that the price of a ticket had been raised from $30,000 to $50,000 per person.

Who is attending the 2024 Met Gala?

While fashion fans will know the co-chairs ahead of the gala, the guest list is kept a secret until the evening before the star-studded event, per Vogue.

Who gets invited to the Met Gala?

You can expect to see a bevy of famous faces! Rihanna and Sarah Jessica Parker are red carpet staples, though the latter missed the 2023 gala.

Apart from actors, singers, athletes and models, royalty has also graced the steps of the Met in previous years, including Princess Caroline's daughter Charlotte Casiraghi, Princess Beatrice and Queen Rania of Jordan. Princess Diana even attended the event in 1996.

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