The Met Gala dress code has just been revealed, months after the theme for the extravagant exhibition was announced.
The dress code is "The Garden of Time", a reference to J.G. Ballard's 1962 short story of the same title.
Every year certain celebrities get a rap on the knuckles for not sticking to the annual Met Gala theme, but there's now a highly specific dress code for them to tackle.
The spring 2024 exhibit itself will be entitled Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, which is the "theme" for this year's event, and covers the entire presentation rather than what guests will be wearing.
It will see approximately 250 items pulled from the Institute's permanent collection, including some that have been rarely seen in public before.
The exhibition promises to combine design from across the ages, from a 17th-century English Elizabethan-era bodice to boundary breaking 21st century designs by Alexander McQueen, with modern technology to present them in immersive ways.
At the core of the exhibition will be roughly 50 historically significant and aesthetically beautiful pieces from the collection that are far too fragile ever to be worn again. These will represent the 'Sleeping Beauties' of the title.
These works will be displayed using video animation, light projection, soundscaping, AI, CGI and even forms of illusion to bring them back to life.
The dress code, meanwhile, is a suggestion for how celebrities can interpret that theme.
Ballard's short story takes place in a garden in a deserted part of the world, and deals with themes of endless creation and destruction and humanity's role in it. In this case, we can perhaps expect a lot of floral motifs, ethereal silhouettes and natural materials.
Florals, for Spring? It might just be groundbreaking this time.
Famously held on the first Monday in May each year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City, the Met Gala is an annual fundraiser that provides Institute with its main source of funding for exhibitions and events.
The dazzling event sees designers buy tables in the gala, with each one inviting celebrities or influencers to represent them and their designs on the notorious Met steps. Each guest is personally approved by American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, making an invite one of the most hotly coveted tickets in the fashion world.
This year's chairs have also been annouced as Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Lopez, and Zendaya, with Vogue noting in the announcement that "This year's cochairs reflect a variety of career achievements, and all have distinct style histories with the Met Gala". The announcement was made on social media with a playful conversation playing out in chat bubbles.
Derry-born designer and Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson will be one of the event's honorary chairs, alongside TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
The Met Gala will take place on 6 May in New York City.
