The Met Gala is a yearly benefit that celebrates the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newest fashion exhibit. On the first Monday of each May, Manhattan rings in the spring with a night of glitz and glamor, Hollywood stars, and incredible feats of design.

Each year, the attendees and designers are given a theme. Past themes have varied from specific to loose, over-the-top to elegant, and straightforward to insane. Some notable ones in the recent cultural zeitgeist include 2019’s “Camp,” coming from Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on Camp, which defines the style as “ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical.” Another was 2018’s “Heavenly Bodies,” a tribute to religious iconography which gave us Zendaya as Joan of Arc and Ariana Grande adorned with the artwork from the Sistine Chapel. Not to mention last year’s theme, which honored the late great designer Karl Lagerfeld.

This year’s theme is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Many people who are not keen on the fashion world have been wondering what exactly this means. The institution itself gave some insight. The Met’s French Director and CEO, Marina Kellen, said in a statement that “‘Sleeping Beauties’ will heighten our engagement with these masterpieces of fashion by evoking how they feel, move, sound, smell, and interact when being worn, ultimately offering a deeper appreciation of the integrity, beauty, and artistic brilliance of the works on display” (Vogue).
To put that in more simple terms, this year’s exhibit is an ode to the iconic fashion of the past, now too delicate and too precious to ever be worn again. Designers will be challenged to create looks that pay homage and give new life to historical pieces by using modern technology and techniques. As celebrity and brand stylist Gabriela Langone said, “It’s bringing back these archived pieces, taking them apart, showcasing them, and showing them to the world in a sensory way. I imagine an old couture Dior coming out and being unstitched and unraveled, and the smell of that old fabric” (Business Insider).

As always, though, every year, there are many celebrities who seem to have not gotten the memo and decide to dress off-theme. As stylist Yasi Guiliani told Business Insider, “When I first saw the theme, I thought some people would take that seriously and dress up as Sleeping Beauty or as a princess. And then there are the people like Jared Leto, Doja Cat, and Katy Perry who might take it literally and show up in a sleeping bag.”

But, those who do decide to follow the rules are expected to be dawning centuries-old silhouettes with modern elements, nature-inspired outfits enhanced by technology, and iconic symbols of fashion turned on their heads in some shocking and creative ways. In short, it will be about fusing the old with the new.

This year’s exhibit will display 250 new items spanning 400 years of history. All of the pieces are extremely delicate works of art. Some, however, are too fragile and valuable to even be at the exhibit at all – well, at least not physically. Through video animation, light projection, soundscaping, AI, CGI, and Pepper’s Ghost (a theater technique that makes objects off-stage appear as if they are in front of the audience), these ‘sleeping beauties’ will be awakened in this new age of fashion and design. There will also be a focus on sustainability and the natural world, in tandem with the theme of reimagining the old as opposed to creating the new. As the Costume Institute’s Andrew Bolton explains, “It is very much an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion” (Vogue).

Sleeping Beauties is a unique and interesting theme that designers are excited to play around with. Stylist Yael Quint commented on her enthusiasm for this theme, saying “There’s just such an appreciation for this beautiful art that hasn’t gotten its moment. The Met is giving these super delicate, beautiful creations that designers have worked so hard on this extra bit of life. And it’s just a dream for us” (Business Insider).

The 2024 Met Gala is ushering the fashion world into the future while taking inspiration from the past. It’s hard to know exactly what looks will grace the infamous Met stairs, but it’s sure to give everyone a clue as to what’s in store for the next chapter in style and artistry.

This article previously ran in the April print edition