It started in 1948 as a society midnight supper, and it wasn’t even at the Met.
Fast forward 70-plus years, and the Met Gala is something totally different, one of the most photographed events in the world for its head-spinning red carpet — though the famous carpeted steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art aren’t always red. We’re talking Rihanna as a bejeweled pope. Zendaya as Cinderella with a light-up gown. Katy Perry as a chandelier morphing into a hamburger. Also: Beyoncé in her “naked dress.” Kim Kardashian in a face-covering bodysuit. Billy Porter as an Egyptian sun god, carried on a litter by six shirtless men. And Lady Gaga’s 16-minute striptease.
Not to forget, the Met Gala is still a fundraiser — last year the evening earned more than a whopping $16.4 million for the Met’s Costume Institute. Let’s also not forget that it launches the annual spring fashion exhibit that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the museum.
