Secrets, curiosities and icons of the Met Gala in a new collector’s book. The interview with the author

The countdown for the first Monday in May is now winding down: although it is not a holiday or sacred day – as it might sound – the Met Gala it is undoubtedly an evening with a high ritual charge. A flagship event of glamour, culture and philanthropy rightly defined as “the most important night in fashion”, it brings together and parades an eclectic mix of luminaries coming not only from the fashion system, but also from entertainment and high society, to raise funds for to the prestigious Costume Institute.

However, the glossy event has not always had the same format, nor the media coverage it has today. How, then, did the Met Gala go from the status of a mere fundraiser to that of more social reception, photographed and shared ever, comparable only to the Oscar awards ceremony?

Kristen Bateman, a New York writer, reveals its secrets in the book Fashion’s Big Night Out. The author tells in detail, accompanied by splendid historical and contemporary images and the preface by Jeremy Scott, the evolution of the Met Gala since 1948when the visionary pr Eleanor Lambert he conceived the idea. From that moment the glittering evening crossed places, starting from the sumptuous rooms of the Waldorf Astoria up to the venerable walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art itself, but also and above all forms of communication different. In fact, in the pages of the book, in addition to the most memorable looks, designers and moments – as well as those that have unjustly fallen into oblivion – we retrace the years in which the legendary editor was at the reins of the event Diana Vreelandand then moved on to the ongoing Anna Wintour era.

Thanks to Vreeland, from 1972 to 1989 the Met Gala began to exhibit some of the key traits that make it what it is today, including the choice of a central theme that linked the Costume Institute exhibition and the opening night, but also the participation of the most influential stars and socialites, such as Jackie Kennedy or Elizabeth Taylor. Yet, it is Wintour’s leadership from the 1990s onwards that made the Met Gala the opulent and “unattainable” event we know: just think that, if in 1998 a ticket for the reception cost around 2 thousand dollars, today it does not you could buy it under $50,000. These and many other curiosities in the book Fashion’s Big Night Out, now available in bookstores and online, which we discussed with author Kristen Bateman.