Everything You Need to Know About The Met Gala Theme: About Time!

COVER STORY / 2019-11-15

The Met Gala- Just the most awaited event of the Fashion Calendar- has announced its theme for 2020. The first Monday of May is when this night unfolds at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Annual Costume Institute exhibit. The theme for 2020 is "About Time: Fashion and Duration.” It will outline the journey of Fashion from 1870 to today along a disruptive timeline, as it coincides with The Met’s 150th-anniversary celebrations.

According to Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Costume Institute, “Fashion is indelibly connected to time, it not only reflects and represents the spirit of the times, but it also changes and develops with the times,” 

About Time: Fashion and Duration will be based on the work of Henri Bergson, the French 20th-century philosopher. His philosophy of duration or la durée describes the concept of time as something that cannot be segregated into minutes or hours but should be understood in its multiplicity.  His work has inspired modernist writers such as Virginia Wools in her novels Orlando and Mrs. Dalloway. Wools will be one of the exhibitions “ghost narrators” as through fashion this theme will further be explored.

Since the timeline of fashion goes back 150 years, this theme could prove to be the most abstract and complex red carpet events, ever. Celebrities will have to time travel back through centuries of fashion and perhaps go for something more timeless than contemporary.

The Met Gala 2020 will see Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Nicolas Ghesquire and Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Louis Vuitton) as the co-chairs. What we’re most excited about is witnessing Meryl Streep in action, as it will mark her first-ever Met Gala attendance (who coincidentally played the relentless Miranda Priestly in the famous Devil Wears Prada).

We don’t know about you, but this makes us giddy with joy!

Let’s take a look at some of the most iconic Met-Gala outfits over the years.

Lady Gaga 2019

As the co-chair of the camp-themed Met Gala last year, the singer/actress set the mood and how! She first stepped onto the red carpet in fuschia pink, voluminous gown. Six dancers carried black umbrellas alongside her. Her hair and makeup were made to match the occasion along with mile-long lashes with gold talon-like wasps that billowed past the perimeter of her face. Her hair, in a signature platinum-blonde color was styled into a neat bob and tiny little bows were created using Gaga’s own her on top.

Rihanna 2017

Rihanna hit the 2017 Met Gala red carpet and it looked like a page out of a fantasy novel. The singer wore a Comme Des Garcon creation right off the Fall 2016 runway, which was an architectural wonder.

Priyanka Chopra 2017

Chopra wore Ralph Lauren and had a more classic reference point in mind for the annual Met Gala ball in 2017. The duo channeled some Katherine Hepburn energy into the mix and started there. The result was a long trailing trench coat that used classic elegance but with an Avante-Garde twist with a dramatic train at the end which required many helping hands-on-deck to even get the dress out of her lobby. 

Cara Delevigne 2017

Reflective materials, sleek silhouettes and bold shoulders all seemed to be a part of Delevingne’s style statement at 2017’s Met Gala event. The actress/model seemed to be adding fervor to her consistent pantsuit style. This Chanel moment gave her the sartorial edge which was much needed for those Met photo ops and stayed true to her personal style.

So hold and behold! Because this time it’s going to be an even bigger celebration of the intermingling of Fashion and Art; seen through the eyes of the world’s most famous actors, celebrities and artists.