Fashion’s biggest night of the year has finally returned after an unprecedented pandemic put it on hold for a year. The MET Gala, Vogue’s most glamorous themed dinner and fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, returned to New York on the heels of New York Fashion Week and the MTV Video Music Awards. The second Monday in September, however, just doesn’t have the same ring to it as the first Monday in May, and this reflected in the way the evening’s looks played out.
The overwhelmingly grand sentiment seems to be a rather underwhelming response from people around the world. Many high-profile celebrities opted to skip the event, the theme itself was rather uninspiring, the guest list included Gen Z TikTok celebrities like Dixie D’Amelio and Addison Rae, and, for many, the fashion was simply not fashioning.
When the theme for the 2021 MET Gala debuted, many scratched their heads — ‘In America: A Lexicon of Fashion?’ What does lexicon mean? What does vocabulary have to do with fashion? What would a red carpet featuring American fashion look like? Does America even have a history rich enough in fashion to create a whole event around it? These questions swirled around fashion fanatics worldwide in anticipation of this esteemed event … and frankly, the Gala left us with few answers.
Slowly, but surely, former MET Gala powerhouses like Beyonce, Blake Lively, Kylie Jenner, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, Zendaya, etc. revealed that they would be absent, removing even more anticipation from the Gala.
Below you can find a collection of commentaries of this year’s designs from two self-proclaimed couch critics. Hopefully, as designers take notes and responses from this year’s event, they can better prepare fully realized concepts for next year’s Gala.
In conclusion, Black women ran this event. Let’s all do better next time, kids.
