British fashion designers and attendees have made history at the Met Gala for decades, and this year’s Met Gala was no exception.
Although the Met Gala is New York’s fashion premiere event of the season, British designers and celebrities have taken the Met Gala by storm.
Held annually on the first Monday of May, the Met Gala was founded in 1946 and held its first ball in 1948, functioning as a fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Exhibit.
Senior lecturer at the University of Brighton Veronica Isaac said: “The Met Gala is an amazing platform to showcase British design to the world.
“Often some of the most interesting and complex pieces come from British designers.”
She added: “We’re arguably more open to political design, you could say, not universally, but I think there’s more sense of liking to be a bit rebellious and we like to historicize things.”
She added: “We’re very proud of our history and traditions.”
Known as “fashion’s biggest night,” the Met Gala was previously hosted at the Waldorf Astoria before eventually taking residence at the iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The star-studded gala is notorious for its wildly inventive themes, including Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (2018) and Camp: Notes on Fashion (2019).
The 2024 exhibition Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion informed the theme, “The Garden of Time,” based on the 1962 short story by J.G. Ballard.
Isaac said: “The testament to its importance is the fact that we’ve been talking about it in Britain.
“I mean, it’s an event in America, where an American institute funds their exhibition program, and yet still in the UK, we’re really interested in that gala, even during COVID.”
One of the most exclusive social events in the world, a seat at the Met Gala cost approximately $75,000.
Discussing British racing driver Lewis Hamilton’s 2024 Met Gala look, Isaac detailed its reference to one of the first portraits of a black gardener and the history of the enslaved.
Isaac said: “Burberry was doing his look, but then he got American people in New York to finish off the embroidery, which was a really nice marriage between a British person getting a British company to work with him, but then also getting it punched up in New York.”
The Queen of the Met Gala
Vogue’s British-American editor-in-chief Anna Wintour wields great power when it comes to the Met’s annual costume ball.
With complete control over the theme and exclusive guest list, Wintour has co-chaired the Met Gala since 1995.
She mentioned planning a similar event in 2023, a ticketed fashion show to take place in London to fundraise for London’s arts scene with all proceeds going to performing arts organisations.
Isaac said: “If we had our equivalent of the Met Gala that celebrated sustainable ethical design, was a platform for new designers, worked in a more sustainable way, and raised funds for the performance industry, that would be the perfect story.”
British Designers
This year, British designers commanded the scene on the red carpet at the Met Gala more than ever before.
British designers who have attended various Met Galas include Steve O Smith, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Simone Rocha.
Drag artist and designer Rosacea Blemish has been invested in the Met Gala for years, as she pursued fashion at the University of East London and the Royal College of Art.
On British history at the Met Gala, Blemish said: “I think Britain has always had a slighter upper hand on the edge because we’ve always been the rebellious designers.
“The U.S. always champions British talent, you know, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Vivian Westwood, they are icons of the British fashion scene and they’ve always been represented in American fashion.
She added: “I feel like there’s a unity with the language between the designers and the American market.”
Madonna, Ed Sheeran, FKA Twigs, and Cara Delevingne all donned the red carpet in haute couture by Stella McCartney.
British-American designer Harris Reed even wore his floral design this year alongside Demi Moore.
British Attendees
Alongside British fashion designers and celebrities, royals have graced the red carpet.
One of the fashion icons of the royal family, Princess Diana attended the 1996 Costume Institute Benefit in an elegant navy silk John Galliano Dior dress.
Fellow member of the Mountbatten-Windsor family Princess Beatrice attended the Met gala in 2018 wearing a bright purple Alberta Ferretti gown and a jewelled headpiece.
While rumours were circulating about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attending the Met Gala, they did not make an appearance.
British history at the Met Gala, this year and beyond
From the Met Gala’s chairwoman to popular designers and attendees, Brits have been an integral part of Met Gala history.
Blemish highlighted that the Met Gala’s themes of pageantry and elegance naturally align with historic British fashion and costume design trends.
Feature image credit: Danilo, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons License
