Daring Dystopia: Revisiting The Met Gala 2024

Staff Writers Margo Sautelle and Claire Ducharme re-visit the charm and complaints surrounding the 2024 Met Gala which took place in May.

This year’s Met Gala celebrated the Costume Institute’s new exhibition “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and as usual, it was one of the most anticipated and observed fashion events of the year.

While this year’s benefit came and went, conversation around the gall of such extravagant demonstrations of wealth certainly overshadowed the typical commentary on theme compliance and creativity. Even the conversations around the most celebrated and relevant of looks were the target of snide remarks tearing into the fabric of the event and modern stardom itself. In my eyes, these conversations were in part spurred by the theme. 

The chosen theme revolved around The Garden of Time, a 1962 short story by J.G. Ballard.

Although science fiction, The Garden of Time is an excellent commentary on aristocracy, willful ignorance and passage of time. In some ways, the 2024 Met Gala’s theme might have been as daring and as it was impetuous. Perhaps the controversy arose because the theme required too much introspection: considering the silence of such stylish celebrities on humanitarian issues important to New York locals and celebrity’s fans, ostentatious displays of wealth and glamour seemed insensitive rather than on-theme.

With such a thought-provoking story serving as inspiration to the event, many felt the attendees exhibited a disconnect from reality; many social media spectators pointed out real life resemblances between the Met Gala and the dystopian “Hunger Games” franchise. In ‘The Hunger Games,’ labourers in external districts a struggle to survive and provide raw resources for foppish, materialistic citizens in the glamourous capitol: these Capitol citizens play dress up and host extravagant feasts, much like our modern celebrities.

The opulence of the Met Gala and the silence of celebrities on current crises including genocide, economic disparity, war, and pandemic aftermath (specifically in NYC, where city recovery is “incomplete and uneven”), created an unfortunate division similar to that of J. G. Ballard’s short story. In a world where influencers have the power to sway social opinion, many would argue that these figures have an inherent responsibility to society. Their cheerful ignorance, rather than the artistry and charitibility of the event, took center stage.

After a long five years, Zendaya’s grand return to the Met Gala was certainly worth the wait. Taking to the carpet as an official co-host of the event, the actress showcased not one, but two extraordinary pieces – both of which interpreted “The Garden of Time” theme in a refreshingly unique way.

Her first look was striking and took the spotlight in much media coverage of the event. The gown by John Galliano for Maison Margiela radiated opulence with a striped royal-blue and emerald-green trumpet skirt, a duchess satin corset and a bold matching headpiece. As Vogue rightly noted, the dress certaintly brought ‘the drama’ to the event. Working with Sheika Daley, her gothic make-up certainly turned heads, the ultra-skinny brows and vampy colour palette complimented the cooler colors of the gown. The gown thereby marked a shocking divergence from her princessy ‘Cinderella’ dress of galas past, into the daring elegance of a villanous aesthetic.

As for her second look, Zendaya showcased a vintage 1996 gown designed by Galliano for Givenchy. Dramatic and haute couture, the dress included a black lace-up bodice and a long train. It was her bouquet headpiece, however, which truly stole the show: both classically floral and interestingly dark, the headpiece neatly tied the ensemble together. Zendaya’s second debut provided an extravagant finish to the much anticipated event, though this sizable gown still left room for controversy after. Were Zendaya’s looks fashionably tasteful enough for the Met? If so, why did they appear at the forefront of the dystopian controversy?

Perhaps the online narrative surrounding the event led to such dramatic rejection of this year’s gala: A poignant TikTok featuring Zendaya’s ensembles and those of other Met attendees recently gained 2.3 million likes: the creator ‘dystopian_user’ contributed to the gala’s controversy with the text “Welcome to the Capitol” overlaying images from the event. The comparison is poignant insofar as ‘The Hunger Games’ uses fashion—often dramatic, surrealist fasion—as a symbol for overconsumption. Accusations (of uncertain severity) flooded online platforms such as X (Formerly Twitter) and TikTok, though this zietgiest extended beyond the online sphere: pro-Palestinian protests were taking place on the other side of this rose-cladded carpet.

Online conversations regarding the Gala were not limited to critiques on overconsumption. For example, images of Katy Perry in two, beautifully thematic pieces circulated alongside Zendaya’s outfits. In one gown, Perry’s long, dark hair contrasted beautifully with the bright flowers on a cream-colored gown. The second image showed her waist dramatically reduced in a bronze corset with a ‘skeleton key’ affixed to it. But no interviews with Perry surfaced, and no designer stepped forward to claim credit for the outfits.

Despite what many people—including Perry’s own mother—believed, Katy Perry did not attend the 2024 Met Gala; the circulated images were AI generated. While Perry’s imaginary look (and presence) could be considered cleverly tasteful considering the theme, the scale of the rumour inspired Twitter users to contribute once again to an ongoing conversation regarding the dangers of AI.

The theme for this year’s Met Gala, based on Ballard’s story of willful ignorance, decay and privilege, has therefore brought into question the role of the event for social commentary as well as art. Is the irony of the theme that it is a little too on the nose considering today’s global climate? Is this dystopian narrative a harrowing reflection of our reality? After all, from “melancholic floral” motifs to Count-and-Countess-inspired ensembles, it is visually clear how these A-list celebrities have assumed their position in the story, climbing the carpet steps of Arcadian bliss while the underprivileged riot below.

Even today, images from the 2024 Met Gala continue to be circulated around social media, in order to remind us of a prevailing ‘ignorance is bliss’ attitude that celebrities often take towards humanitarian issues. Therefore, though celebrities at the event, much like characters in the story, faced an ‘angry mob’ of protestors, (many of whom, in this case, were pro-Palestinian,) the protestors, unlike their literary counterparts, failed to infiltrate the event. Rather, a more ‘faceless’ mob,on social media ultimately created an even louder uproar in the aftermath of the event: celebrities who broke their silence on the Palestinian issue by reposting an AI-Generated image reading ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ faced backlash both for the tardiness of their response and for the spinelessness of their reliance on artificial intelligence for the message.

Months after the event, outrage over ‘fashion’s biggest night out’ has died down, but fierce online debate has not. In an age of ever-shortening attention spans and feverishly quick trend cycles, perhaps the BBC is correct in arguing “no publicity is bad publicity for the Met Gala.” With attention as advertiser’s most valuable target, even a theme linked to class struggle will help to generate plenty of fundraising money for the Met’s costume institute. Perhaps, in this, an ever-growing audience of passionate online critics will become a needed fuel for the Gala’s continual renewal.

As avid spectators and appreciators of the artistry of fashion and the necessity of archival work, we will relish the spectacle next May, and every May after.