+34
After a week of uncertainty and monitoring the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the MetGala will not take place as planned on the first Monday in May
Last year’s Met Gala co-hosts. Lady Gaga, as ever, expresses our national psyche. Photo: Kevin Mazur/MG19/Getty Images for The Met Museum/ After a week of uncertainty and monitoring the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the Met Gala, arguably fashion’s biggest event of the year, will not take place on as planned on the first Monday in May.
The event, which celebrates the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is orchestrated in collaboration with Vogue, is an international event of such high standing that May’s first Monday is the only day besides Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day that the museum closes to visitors in a normal year. This is, obviously enough, not a normal year. The Met and its sister museums, the Met Breuer and the Met Cloisters, have been closed since March 13, and the Museum will remain closed through April 4. The gala this year was to be held on May 4. “The CDC advised over the weekend that there should not be any gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks,” said Nancy Chilton, the chief external relations officer of the Costume Institute. “In deference to this guidance, all programs and events through May 15 will be canceled or postponed.” No information was immediately available about which of those two options would be chosen, or whether the opening date of the Costume Institute’s spring show, “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” which gives the gala its theme, would be pushed back. The impact is potentially significant. The gala provides the Costume Institute’s funding for the year; last year, the event brought in a record-breaking $15 million, and tickets for this year’s event were $35,000 apiece. It is a rare opportunity for brands to secure a major media moment, and its red carpet is the most reliable headline-making, meme-generating event out there: where Lady Gaga does a multi-look metamorphosis on the red carpet, Rihanna drags her egg-yellow train up the steps, Billy Porter is carried in on a litter, and Marc Jacobs squires Cher. COVID-19 preparations and response have for weeks been altering the course of fashion’s usually busy spring. Several teams of U.S. fashion editors decamped from Paris Fashion Week early, citing concerns. First Italy, and then countries including France, Spain, and the Netherlands have instituted travel restrictions and lockdowns. Gucci canceled its cruise collection show, which had been scheduled for May 18 in San Francisco, and Versace also canceled its cruise show last week, which had been scheduled for May 16.
Scratch the next story
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Machine Gun Kelly Says Baby Boom Coming from Coronavirus, Hookup GaloreHere's to have sex amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to MGK.
Read more »
How the Sunday Democratic debate is different than all the other debatesWhile this is the 11th Democratic presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle, it will be considerably different than the others.
Read more »
Watch Guns N' Roses Perform 'So Fine' for First Time Since 1993Watch Guns N’ Roses perform 'So Fine' for the first time since 1993 at a Mexico City festival gig that honestly probably should never have taken place
Read more »
Op-Ed: Postponing Tour Dates Is the Only Ethical ChoiceOp-Ed: James McMurtry writes that postponing tour dates is the only ethical choice during the coronavirus pandemic
Read more »
Amid global coronavirus pandemic, GOP Senator shares photo of Corona beer, tells people 'don't panic'Texas Senator John Cornyn has received backlash for the seemingly innocuous tweet, with critics accusing him of being insensitive.
Read more »