Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Met Gala 2021: What is this year’s theme?

Due to the pandemic, last year’s event was cancelled.

Olivia Petter
Tuesday 14 September 2021 03:36 BST
Comments
(Getty Images)

The Met Gala is the biggest night of the year in the fashion world.

Due to the pandemic, last year’s event was cancelled, meaning the 2021 soirée will be the first to take place since 2019.

Held to celebrate and fundraise for the new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the Met Gala is typically themed around the artwork set to go on display, with previous themes including punk, religion, and camp.

What is the theme of this year’s Met Gala?

This year, the Met Gala is celebrating all things American Fashion. The annual exhibition will be presented in two parts: “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” and “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” Both of which will be curated by Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute.

The first will open on 18 September and will look at how US fashion has changed in recent years and how it has been influenced by politics and social justice.

Part two of the exhibition will open on 5 May 2022 alongside a second Met Gala, which will take place on 2 May to mark the opening.

“I’ve been really impressed by American designers’ responses to the social and political climate, particularly around issues of body inclusivity and gender fluidity, and I’m just finding their work very, very self-reflective,” Bolton told Vogue.

“I really do believe that American fashion is undergoing a renaissance. I think young designers in particular are at the vanguard of discussions about diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability and transparency, much more so than their European counterparts, maybe with the exception of the English designers.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in