If one needed to find another description for the Met Gala, it could quite adequately be called the Fashion Olympics. The annual themed fashion fundraiser tests creativity and pays tribute to fashion as an art form.
I would imagine, for the designers who happen to be dressing celebrities, that the preparation takes months. The pressure to create something that would dominate headlines and serve as a marker for cultural and social debate seems intensive, to put it gently.
This year’s theme was In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, but it appeared more like a dreaded parade with many barely making an effort.
Given the theme, one might have expected a prominence of American designers and overall hints to culture synonymous with America and its values. What is American culture though? Is it the stained global image from the Trump Administration that is yet to wear off? Is it guns, capitalism and a ruthless health care system? I struggled to associate any one thing with it and perhaps that might be reminiscent too of how much the culture has changed over time to accommodate people of varying backgrounds.
Sure there is the Super Bowl, and the epic 4th July celebrations, Thanksgiving and Halloween, but they have all been either built by or sustained through capitalism. I suppose the cowboy culture and the aesthetic from the south are other cultural standpoints to consider. But neither covers the entire country.
While I pondered on the designers, specifically heritage designers, even they seemed far and few. Ralph Lauren is always the name that first comes to mind and while there may be varying labels based in America and finding one may seem easy, if one looks closely they mostly tend to have their roots elsewhere which to some extent influences the overall aesthetic and brand.
Perhaps the celebrities attending the Met Gala didn’t mean to ignore the theme by opting for mostly European designers. Perhaps designers delivered their own brand because they too felt conflicted when it came to piecing together American culture. If you ask me, this year felt like a subtle protest, highlighting front-burner topics.
Between American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wearing a white dress with the words ‘Tax the Rich’ painted onto the back and Lewis Hamilton buying a table worth of tickets for black designers just so they could get much needed exposure, it felt like more people were interested in just protesting everything that seems unfair within American culture.
