The first Monday in May. The epitome of class, elegance, fashion, and creativity on an international stage. Anna Wintour's treasured baby (of course, behind VOGUE), and my own personal obsession: The Met Gala. For those of you who don't know, The Met Gala is a fundraiser for The Metropolitain Museum of Art in New York City that happens on the first Monday in May. It is also the opening of a fashion-based exhibit curated by Anna Wintour herself.
This exhibit has a different theme each year. In the past we have seen themes like Punk: Chaos to Couture, China: Through the Looking Glass, and one of my favorites, last year's Manus X Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. This year's theme was Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons. Rei Kawakubo is a Japanese designer; he is one of three designers to ever be honored at The Met while they are alive. So, you know he is an absolute genius.
Rei Kawakubo is an inspired soul and designs incredibly modern clothing. I say “modern” in an art historical context; his work is devoid of rational thinking and is completely inspired by contemporary ideals. His work is, put simply, art. Comme des Garçons is his label and is known for being specifically original. At first, I was skeptical of the theme. I thought there had been a lot of modernist Met Gala themes in recent years, I was wondering how people would interpret the theme. I was wrong to be worried. The steps of the Met (XOXO, GG) were filled with people who took this theme to a different place, somewhere where they could rationalize Kawakubo's irrational designs to a place where a layman could understand it: their hair. This interpretation of Kawakubo’s work was incredible and I absolutely adored it.
For me, seeing this interpretation of the theme was inspiring. I started to think about a theme that I would like to curate an exhibit at The Met for… I would create an exhibit based on the fashion of one of the most elegant royals known: Princess Diana. I would like to see the way people interpret this theme and the prospect of a collaboration of a woman who inspired an entire generation.
Each year, The Met holds this exhibit with the hopes of bringing people to understand the depths of fashion as an art. Each year I wish I could be at the Gala and go to the exhibit. Each year, I sit in front of my TV, surveying and analyzing the best dressed in accordance to the theme, drooling over the couture and sobbing over the potential. Each year, I think of what I could contribute. Consider this, the first of many written installments and an open letter to one of my many heroes: Anna Wintour.
