Every year, like clockwork, May means one thing and one thing only in fashion circles: the Met Gala. The most anticipated red carpet event outside of the Oscars, this year it will be held on 5 May. The A-listers lucky enough to score a ticket have just over 72 hours to prepare the outfits that will land on best-dressed lists and provide talking points for years to come (Kim Kardashian's corset at last year's Met Gala? We're still discussing it). As for the theme of this year's Met Gala, it is, as is tradition, based on the museum's upcoming exhibition, which is Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
The theme is inspired by Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, the 2009 book by Monica L. Miller, who is chair and professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. Interestingly, it will see menswear as the focus for the first time since 2003, exploring the concept of the Black dandy, a figure who first emerged in the 1700s.
The Met Gala was first established in 1948, becoming an annual fundraiser for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, as well as marking the opening of its fashion exhibition with serious pomp and circumstance. Organised and presided over by Anna Wintour, who has had that particular honour since 1995, the star-studded event is known for its elaborate themes and custom-made couture. Previous Met Gala themes have drawn on the work of individual designers - visionaries such as Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Gianni Versace and Rei Kawakubo - as well as historic periods (Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century) and even religions (Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination). Some, on the other hand, are more open to interpretation; 2024's Met Gala theme was Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.
Some of the most interesting in recent history have also been inspired by books or literary works, both this year's and 2019's Camp: Notes on Fashion, which took its name from an essay by Susan Sontag - and produced a stunning array of camp fashions (Lady's Gaga gold-plated eyelashes were the kind of beauty moment that's exclusive to the Met Gala).
While we wait countdown to the next Met Gala, let's take a trip down memory lane by revisiting every theme since 1971...
See: Every Met Gala Theme From 1971 - 2024
1 of 461971-1974
1971: Fashion Plate
1972: Untailored Garments
1973: The World of Balenciaga
1974: Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design
Pictured: Cher, 1974
2 of 461975
American Women of Style
Pictured: Pat Buckley
3 of 461976
The Glory of Russian Costume
Pictured: Imelda Marcos and Christina Ford
4 of 461977 - 1978
1977: Vanity Fair: A Treasure Trove
1978: Diaghilev: Costumes and Designs of the Ballets Russes
Pictured: Barbara Walters, 1977
5 of 461979
Fashions of the Habsburg Era: Austria-Hungary
Pictured: Margaux Hemingway and Bernard Foucher
6 of 461980
The Manchu Dragon: Costumes of China, the Chi'ng Dynasty
Pictured: Carolina Herrera
7 of 461981
The Eighteenth Century Woman
Pictured: Bianca Jagger
8 of 461982
La Belle Époque
Pictured: Raquel Welch
9 of 461983
Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design
Pictured: Carolina Herrera
10 of 461984
Man and the Horse
Pictured: Candy Pratts Price and Chuck Price
11 of 461985
Costumes of Royal India
Pictured: Cher
12 of 461986-1987
1986: Dance
1987: In Style: Celebrating Fifty Years of the Costume Institute
Pictured: Linda Carter and Blaine Trump, 1986
13 of 461988
From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress 1837-1877
Pictured: Zandra Rhodes
14 of 461989
The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789-1815
Pictured: Anna Wintour
15 of 461990
Théâtre de la Mode: Fashion Dolls: The Survival of Haute Couture
Pictured: Naomi Campbell
16 of 461991
The gala was held without a theme.
Pictured: Calvin Klein and Kelly Klein
17 of 461992
Fashion and History: A Dialogue
Pictured: Christy Turlington
18 of 461993
Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style
Pictured: Joan Rivers
19 of 461994
Orientalism: Visions of the East in Western Dress
Pictured: Oscar de la Renta and his stepdaughter Eliza
20 of 461995
Haute Couture
Pictured: Princess Diana
21 of 461996
Christian Dior
Pictured: Iman
22 of 461997
Gianni Versace
Pictured: Salma Hayek
23 of 461998
Cubism and Fashion
Pictured: Sigourney Weaver
24 of 461999
Rock Style
Pictured: Liv Tyler and Stella McCartney
25 of 462001
Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years
Pictured: Naomi Campbell
26 of 462003
Goddess: The Classical Mode
Pictured: Stella McCartney and Kate Hudson
27 of 462004
Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century
Pictured: Eva Mendes
28 of 462005
The House of Chanel
Pictured: Nicole Kidman
29 of 462006
AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion
Pictured: Sarah Jessica Parker
30 of 462007
Poiret: King of Fashion
Pictured: Lucy Liu
31 of 462008
Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
Pictured: Taylor Swift
32 of 462009
The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion
Pictured: Winona Ryder
33 of 462010
American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity
Pictured: Mila Kunis
34 of 462011
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
Pictured: Emma Stone
35 of 462012
Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations
Pictured: Amber Heard
36 of 462013
Punk: Chaos to Couture
Pictured: Kate Beckinsale
37 of 462014
Charles James: Beyond Fashion
Pictured: Rita Ora
38 of 462015
China: Through the Looking Glass
Pictured: Beyoncé
39 of 462016
Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology
Pictured: Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid
40 of 462017
Comme des Garçons' Rei Kawakubo
Pictured: Rihanna
41 of 462018
Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination
Pictured: Cynthia Erivo
42 of 462019
Camp: Notes on Fashion
Pictured: Kim Kardashian
43 of 462021
In America: A Lexicon of Fashion
Pictured: Yara Shahidi
44 of 462022
**In America: An Anthology of Fashion
**
Pictured: Kim Kardashian
45 of 462023
Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
Pictured: Doja Cat
46 of 462024
Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion
Pictured: Zendaya