Fashion’s biggest night is just a few weeks away! Due to the coronavirus, the Met Gala last took place in September 2021, which means we only had to wait eight months for the high-profile event to return. Now, the Met Ball is back on the first Monday in May, where it normally falls. Tons of celebrities are expected to flock to New York City and walk the glamorous red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2022, dressed to the nines for the “In America: An Anthology Of Fashion” — or, more simply known as “Gilded Glamour” — theme. Here’s everything to know about the upcoming event!
When & When To Watch The Met Gala
The Met Gala 2022 will take place on Monday, May 2, 2022. Every year, the Met Gala is held on the first Monday in May. Unfortunately, COVID-19 changed things up a bit during the past two years. In 2020, the event was cancelled completely, and in 2021, the event was moved to September, when vaccines and treatments had become more readily available.
Generally, celebrities start arriving on the red carpet in the 5:00 p.m. ET hour. Photographers often catch some stars as they’re exiting their hotels in Manhattan, as well. As of right now, no official live stream has been announced for the Met Gala, but Vogue generally live streams the red carpet on its YouTube and other social media pages. The red carpet is a highly publicized event, and E! usually also covers it on television, as well. The actual event, though, is much more private and is not televised or streamed anywhere.
About This Year’s Met Gala & Exhibition
The theme of the Met Gala is “In America: An Anthology Of Fashion.” The dress code for attendees is “Gilded Glamour,” with guests expected to honor the Gilded Age of New York (1870-1890) with their red carpet looks. Andrew Bolton, the head curator of the Museum of Modern Art’s Costume Institute, will be designing the exhibition to go along with the event. The exhibition will be shown across 13 rooms in the Met. “The stories really reflect the evolution of American style, but they also explore the work of individual tailors, dress makers and designers,” Bolton told Vogue. The exhibition will feature pieces from recognizable names in fashion, like Oscar de la Renta, but also include “a lot of other names [that have] really been forgotten, overlooked or relegated into the footnotes of fashion history.”
A list of celebrity attendees has not been announced, but the celebrity co-chairs of the event have been confirmed. Regina King, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as the 2022 co-chairs, with Tom Ford, Anna Wintour and Adam Mosseri serving as honorary co-chairs. There are also eight film directors who will be curating “cinematic vignettes” for the exhibition. They are Janicza Bravo, Sofia Coppola, Julie Dash, Tom Ford, Regina King, Martin Scorsese, Autumn de Wild and Chloe Zhao.
While the 2022 Met Gala theme was decided months ago, there has been some criticism about the decision in recent weeks. Amidst the war in Ukraine, some critics have complained that the theme, which flaunts the idea of wealth, is insensitive from a political standpoint. Due to some of the horrific events taking place in the world right now, the Met Gala has drawn some criticism for putting a focus on glitz and glamour. However, there have been no announcements made regarding a potential change of theme.
Part 1: The 2021 Met Gala Theme
The 2021 Met Gala took place on September 13, 2021. Although it was initially meant to happen in May 2021, it got pushed for four months due to the pandemic. Guests who attended were required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, so they were able to hold the event safely. The 2021 event was actually the prequel to 2022, and the theme was “In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion.” The 2021 Met was co-chaired by Timothee Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman and Naomi Osaka, while the honorary chairs were Anna Wintour, Tom FOrd and Adam Mosseri.
Following the 2021 Met Gala, the “Lexicon Of Fashion” exhibition opened at the Met on Sept. 18, 2021. The exhibit, which was also designed by Andrew Bolton, resembled a home, and showed off the reexamination of American identity and fashion. The intersecting walls and rooms of the exhibit created “a new vocabulary that [was] more reflective of the times we’re living in,” according to Bolton.
About The Met Gala
The Met Gala is an annual charity event held at the Met to benefit the museum’s Costume Institute. The first Met Gala took place in 1948, with Irene Lewisohn and Aline Bernstein leading the charge. Since 1995, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour has been the head of the Met Gala, and she is the one who permanently moved the event to take place on the first Monday in May.
As always, the post-red carpet part of the Met Gala will be a private event. Guests are NOT permitted to use their phones while inside the Met Gala, and cameras are also banned. In the past, this has not stopped some stars from sneaking selfies in the bathroom or scoring quick videos of the dance floor, but for the most part, the events that take place inside the Met Gala are totally secret.
Of course, the guest list is a who’s who of celebrities, with only the most high profile names scoring invites. Designers choose which stars they want to dress for the big night each year, with each designer usually having a few stars on their docket. The designers also generally attend the event with the stars who they dress each year.
Celebs Who Go The Hardest At The Met Gala
There are so many staples when it comes to stars who attend the Met Gala. Many celebrities have been attending the event year after year for quite some time. Kim Kardashian has been on the Met red carpet since she made her debut in 2013, and she’s always good for a dramatic look. In 2021, she wore a Balenciaga outfit that covered her entire body – head to toe – in black fabric. In 2019, she wore a corset underneath her skintight dress, which was so tight, she could barely sit down. Anything in the name of fashion, right?!
Lady Gaga is also always good for an incredible red carpet look when she attends the Met. Gaga was one of the co-chairs in 2019, and she made the most iconic red carpet entrance ever. The singer started out in a massive pink dress, but began stripping down as she made her way inside the museum. While making her way down the carpet, Gaga became less and less clothed, ending the catwalk in just her lingerie!
Rihanna doesn’t attend the Met every year, but when she does, she certainly knows how to make a statement. This year, RiRi will be just weeks away from giving birth to her first child, so it’s unclear if she’ll even be able to attend. However, considering how top-notch her maternity style has been so far, she’ll definitely bring a totally epic red carpet look if she is able to make it. Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner are also Met Gala regulars, and have wowed fans with their looks at the event on many occasions.