Camp’ is by nature subversive, confronting and challenging the status quo. In the end, the purpose of camp is to put a smile on our faces and a warm glow in our hearts,” the Costume Institute’s head curator, Andrew Bolton told AFP. And boy, did the celebs go all out!
The Met Gala is the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The event’s co-chair, Lady Gaga, arrived in four Brandon Maxwell looks, all-in-one. She offered a performance as she showcased each look: A giant pink gown with a doll-like bow, a black strapless gown, a pink slip dress with giant cell phone, and finally, some very chic lingerie with sparkly tights. She definitely let us know that the theme was made for her.
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We are completely obsessed with Zendaya’s Cinderella moment in a fluorescent Tommy Hilfiger dress. The whole channelling of Cinderella, with not only the dress but also with the carriage clutch and leaving her glass slipper on the pink carpet, was impeccable!
The Jenner sisters, Kylie and Kendall, were also inspired by the fairy-tale Cinderella but as the Wicked Stepsisters in Versace; which Kendall herself pointed out in her Instastories. Another with her own fairy-tale moment was To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’s Lana Condor. For her first-ever Met Gala appearance, she wore a giant millennial pink tulle dress designed by Prabal.
Cardi B brought the red carpet to the Met Gala’s pink carpet with her feminism-inspired dress by Thom Browne. The nights Queen of Dragons was Saoirse Ronan in a flaming hot Gucci dress, it embodied the place where fashion veers to the magical. We can see why the brand was a sponsor of the evening’s event. As if that was not enough, Nina Dobrev stunned us with her Zac Posen 3D printed dress.
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This year’s theme “Camp: Notes on fashion” was inspired by Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on “Camp”. It was more light-hearted, compared to last year’s hugely successful Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, about the relationship between fashion and Catholicism.
This year’s other chairs, with pop star and actress-of-the-moment, Lady Gaga, were tennis star Serena Williams, and singer Harry Styles, along with Gucci designer Alessandro Michele and, as always, Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
The Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibit will run from 9 May through to 8 September.