CNN
—
The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the theme of next year’s Met Gala and accompanying Costume Institute exhibition, and one thing it promises not to be is subtle.
Entitled “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” the 2019 show looks likely to be the most outrageous to date, with the theme drawing on a 1964 Susan Sontag essay that describes camp as “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.”
Unquestionably the fashion world’s biggest night of the year, the annual invite-only gala fundraiser is held the night before the exhibition opens on the first Monday in May at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Few will forget one of the year's most memorable red carpet moments. Rihanna, dressed as the pope for the Met Gala. How will she intrepret 2019's camp theme?
“We are going through an extreme camp moment, and it felt very relevant to the cultural conversation to look at what is often dismissed as empty frivolity but can be actually a very sophisticated and powerful political tool, especially for marginalized cultures,” Costume Institute’s curator Andrew Bolton, told the New York Times.
“Whether it’s pop camp, queer camp, high camp or political camp - Trump is a very camp figure - I think it’s very timely.”
A total of 175 objects, including womenswear and menswear from the 17th century to the present will be on show at the Costume Institute exhibition.
John Shearer/Getty Images
Blake Lively wears a Versace gown at the Met Gala in New York on Monday, May 7. The invitation-only event raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
Rihanna dons a pope-inspired ensemble, including a jeweled miter. The singer co-chaired the event with Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace and Amal Clooney.
Andrew H. Walker/REX/Shutterstock
Katy Perry looks angelic with wings on the red carpet.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
This year's show put the focus on fashion and works of medieval art in what the Met described as a thematic exhibition examining "fashion's ongoing engagement with the devotional practices and traditions of Catholicism."
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Madonna's outfit was one of the most anticipated of the evening. The singer -- who had her own bout of controversy with the Catholic Church when she released her 1989 music video for "Like a Prayer" -- wore an all-black ensemble, complete with a diamond-encrusted headdress.
John Shearer/Getty Images
Past Costume Institute exhibitions include "China: Through the Looking Glass" and "Manus x Machina."
John Shearer/Getty Images
Kendall Jenner wears a white jumpsuit to the event.
Dimitrios Kambouris/MG18/Getty Images
Priyanka Chopra wears a heavily beaded headpiece.
Evan Agostini/Invision/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Kim Kardashian shows off a form-fitting dress with embroidered crosses.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Cardi B wears an intricate headpiece and shimmering gown and train. She was joined by designer Jeremy Scott on the carpet.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Model Gigi Hadid walks the red carpet. Given the theme, there was plenty of religious imagery.
David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock
Sarah Jessica Parker dons an ornate headpiece that included figurines.
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
Chinese model Ming Xi arrives for the Met Gala.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Gisele Bundchen was dressed in gold dress made of ecologically dyed silk.
Evan Agostini/Invision/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Amber Heard donned a golden halo in line with the theme.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The evening even included a proposal. Rapper 2 Chainz, whose real name is Tauheed Epps, got down on one knee on the famous Met gala stairs and popped the question to Kesha Ward, with whom he has three children. She said yes, though it was unclear if this was Epps' original proposal.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Zendaya was wearing an armor-inspired dress, channeling saint Joan of Arc.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Emmy winner Lena Waithe wore a rainbow-colored cape.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and other stars donned elaborate accessories, including crowns and veils to celebrate the gala's theme, "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Wearing a piece by Valentino, Frances McDormand said "
I'm a pagan."
David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock
Ariana Grande was wearing a dress designed by Vera Wang.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The actress was wearing a golden gown and tiara by Prada.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Headpieces were popular among A-listers at Monday night's event.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Actress Kate Bosworth was wearing an angelic veil to pay homage to this year's theme.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
"You can be the king but watch the queen conquer," actress Minday Kaling posted on Instragram.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Amal Clooney wore a corset with a floral-printed train and fitted slacks, while George donned a classic tuxedo.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Fashion icon Donatella Versace is co-chairing this year's event with Anna Wintour, Rihanna and Amal Clooney.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Anna Wintour, Vogue's current editor, and her daughter, Bee Shaffer, walked the carpet at tonight's Met Gala.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Bold, creative and over-the-top perfectly sums up the 2018 Met Gala -- a benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute -- held Monday night.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
In case you're wondering how to score a ticket to this exclusive invite-only event, tickets are $30,000 each.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
All the money goes to support the Costume Institute.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
The Vatican lent items to be exhibited. The exhibition opens to the public on May 10 and runs through October 8, 2018.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Vreeland curated some of the most ambitious and heavily publicized exhibitions in its history, and used the gala as an opportunity to inaugurate them.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute is the only curatorial department at the Met that has to finance its own activities — so the gala is its biggest fundraiser.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
From 1948 to 1971, the benefit wasn't pegged to an exhibition, and was held off-site at the Waldorf Astoria or the Rainbow Room.
Pop icon Lady Gaga, singer Harry Styles, tennis star Serena Williams, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele and Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour will serve as co-chairs.
The news drew enthusiasm from the fashion community and social media.
New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman described the decision to go from this year’s Catholic-themed “Heavenly Bodies” to the expected theatricality of the upcoming “camp”-themed exhibition as “an about-face to the profane” that could potentially top its predecessor in popularity amongst the public.
Vanity Fair wrote that the choice of Lady Gaga and Harry Styles as co-chairs will “provide some possibly needed encouragement,” for guests needing inspiration on how to dress on theme.
Gaga “has built a career out of high-concept art and camp,” and the “former boy bander turned Gucci campaign star has taken up a transformation into a millennial David Bowie, embracing art and style as he ascends into full rock-star status.”
Johnny Dufort
Shirt, Franco Moschino (Italian, 1950--1994) for House of Moschino (Italian, founded 1983), spring/summer 1991
Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Parts of the show will demonstrate how the royal courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV embraced the concept of camp, an exploration of how dandies demonstrated the “camp ideal,” and camp’s origins in European and American queer subcultures in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The works of Donatella Versace, Marc Jacobs, Jeremy Scott and dozens of others will be featured.
Past topical Costume Institute shows that have drawn wide attendance include this year’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” and 2015’s “China: Through the Looking Glass.”