The rumors are true—the Met Gala is set to return this year (albeit "pending government guidelines," the Metropolitan Museum of Art said in a statement), for a grandiose affair of art, fashion, and all your favorite celebrities. As always, the event will follow the theme of the Met's Costume Institute, which, this year, focuses on American fashion. The stylish evening is scheduled for September 13, the second Monday in September (it would have been the first if not for Labor Day).
While the announcement of a theme typically arrives with news of a host, decision-makers at the Met and Vogue have remained relatively mum on the matter. However, a source did reveal to Page Six that President Biden's inaugural poet Amanda Gorman and designer Tom Ford are currently being courted for the position.
Unlike other years, the actual exhibition itself is set to arrive in two parts. The first half, titled “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion," will open September 18 to cap off New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2022. Officials from the Institute explained, "Designs by pioneers of American sportswear will be displayed alongside works by a diverse group of contemporary designers to illustrate a shifting emphasis in American fashion defined by feelings of fear, delight, comfort, anxiety, well-being, loneliness, happiness, belonging, and responsibility, among other qualities."
The second part, "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," will open in the Met's American Wing on May 5, 2022, coloring the garments of the exhibit with a clearer understanding of how the country's history impacted its fashion. Both parts of the exhibition will be on display until September 5, 2022.
Following the raucous red carpet ensembles from the 2019's Camp-themed affair, the 2020 Met Gala was expected to celebrate the Institute's "About Time" exhibit inspired by Virginia Woolf's Orlando and its 1992 film adaptation. Louis Vuitton's Creative Director Nicolas Ghesquière was selected to host alongside Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Though the event was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Institute did offer virtual tours for fashion and art lovers stuck at home during the lockdown.
