The 2024 Costume Institute exhibition is called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” It will discuss themes of impermanence, decay, and the cyclical disposition of fashion, using nature as an envoy. It will feature many never-before-seen pieces from the Costume Institute’s archives, such as a Charles Frederick Worth ball gown from 1877 that inspired the exhibition. Like many items being featured, it’s too delicate to even be put on a mannequin, so instead they’ll be placed into glass coffins horizonalily and recreated them with AI.
Other pieces of interest are the Dior Junon and Venus ball gowns, an Elizabethan bodice from the 17th century, and a 2011 Alexander McQueen dress covered in faux butterfly wings that was featured in Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The exhibition will span over almost 400 years of history, and as described by Andrew Bolton, the head of the department, “It is very much an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion.”
The Met Gala is the so-called ‘Oscars’ of the fashion world. Even those with no knowledge of fashion or much interest in the exhibitions get swept up in the excitement of the first Monday in May, and speculation for the next theme starts almost immediately after the conclusion of the previous, but everyone is left in suspense until that year’s exhibition is over.
The Met Gala is meant to celebrate and raise money for the Costume Institute. Its dress code follows along closely with the exhibition, which sets high hopes for this year, after, in my opinion, three mediocre galas. There were some standout looks overall, but after two years the same theme with the “In America” series, and the monotony and controversy over ”Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, many are ready for a change, myself included. ‘Sleeping Beauties’ has the potential to make that change.
Given how conceptual it is, there are so many directions to take this subject onto the red carpet and create something magnificent and on theme, something that has become a major point of contention and criticism in the past couple of years, with many celebrites facing the scrutiny of online review.
I predict that big ball gowns will be a staple on the red carpet, given the fairy tale princess connection in the title “Sleeping Beauties,” and the large presence of ball gowns in the exhibition. Despite how beautiful that would be, I would like to see some looks playing into concepts of decay, as well as more fashion history references. You could also lean heavily into the nature aspect, or really delicate, seemingly unwearable fashion. However, I’ll be grateful if any of the men attending wear anything other than a black tuxedo.
