Met Gala 2024: Everything you need to know plus a look back to themes from previous years

It’s not even Christmas yet and Vogue Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour is already looking ahead to Spring as the theme for The Met Gala 2024 is announced. It’s known as the biggest fashion event of the year with a list of fashion designers’ and celebrities all wanting to be on the invite list. The theme for next year's event at The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. 

The Met Gala may look like just another celebrity themed party but there is actually a lot of thought that goes into the theme and the exhibition in the museum. Everything will be meticulously planned for the Met Gala which always opens the exhibition on the first Monday in May. 

The Sleeping Beauties exhibition will span over 400 years of fashion history and include around 50 historical pieces featuring designers such as Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney and Connor Ives. The items are from a collection that is too fragile to ever be worn again, “These are the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ of the title,”  Andrew Bolton, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute explained to Vogue. 

What is the Met Gala? 

The Met Gala has been dubbed the Oscars for fashion, however, the evening is a celebration of fashion and a fundraiser event for the The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. It is organised by Vogue Editor Anna Wintour and has been since 1995. 

When is the Met Gala 2024? 

The Met Gala has been held on the first Monday in May since 2005. Next year it will fall on Monday May 6 - so get the date in your diary now .

Who are the hosts of the Met Gala 2024? 

As well as organising the Met Gala Anna Wintour is the main chair of the event. The role of a co-chair includes everything from curating the guest list to helping define the atmosphere. The hosts for the 2024 met Gala are yet to be announced however, last year's co-chairs were Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Roger Federer, Dua Lipa.

Who are the celebrities invited?

Guests that get invited to the Met Gala are people who Anna Wintour knows are relevant and influential in the fashion industry. This can include A-listers from Hollywood actors, supermodels, influencers, athletes, musicians and even Royals. Previous guests have included The Kardashians, Nicole Kidman, Serena Williams, Naomi Campbell, Rihanna, Addison Rae and Princess Diana. 

What have been the Met Gala themes over the years? 

The very first theme for the Met Gala was Haute Couture in 1995. Since then we have seen The House of Chanel (2005), Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011) and China: Through the Looking Glass (2015) which features in the Netflix documentary ‘The First Monday in May’. The theme is always relevant to the Met’s exhibition and it means that guests can interpret the theme based on whatever they want - which is why we end up seeing some beautiful outfits as well as the bizarre. 

In 2023 the Met Gala theme was ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,’ we saw a stunning collection of vintage Chanel outfits - Rihanna in a Valentino haute couture cape and gown, which nodded to the Chanel bride - as well as Jared Leto dressed as Lagerfeld's beloved cat Choupette. Kim Kardashian recently revealed she planned on taking the pampered pet as her date, however Choupette didn’t seem to like her. 

‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’ was the theme for 2019 where we saw Lady Gaga transform into four different outfits by Brandon Maxwell. Zendaya gave us one of the most iconic moments when she wore a Cinderella gown by Tommy Hilfiger that grew in size and lit up with the help of fairy godmother stylist Law Roach. 

Rihanna has given us many show stopping looks over the years but it was when she dressed as the pope for the 2018 ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’ that we loved the most. The stunning cream bejewelled gown with flowing overcoat by Maison Margiela was a moment in Met Gala history. Of course we can't forget Katy Perry dressed as a chandelier in 2019, she also wore huge angel feathers in 2018.