"China Through Looking Glass" The Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a.k.a. The Anna Wintour Party
The Costume Institute Benefit Gala, held at The Met on May 4th - attended by only around 700 Oscar winners and losers, Wall Street moguls, Silicon Valley geeks with some social skills, designers, and Hollywood movers and shakers - is the party of the year.
Last year it generated more than $12 million, at $25,000 per ticket or starting at $175,000 per table of 10. (At these prices Cristal better be flowing as a raging river during cocktail hour, and Russian black caviar piled mountain-high on tables during dinner.)
Anna Wintour ruled the event with an iron fist, bedazzled on-trend by a rose gold Apple watch, since 1995. The recently renovated Costume Institute was even named after her last year. Before her, the Gala was just a party for local socialites. Wintour not only controls the guest list - banning the Real Housewifes from even attempting to buy a table, yet allowing Bieber and Kardashians - but dictates what certain guests will wear. Majority of her staff is required to handle the event planning that takes the entire year in addition to their everyday jobs (cue The Devil Wears Prada).
This year the Met Gala was co-hosted by Jennifer Lawrence and Marrisa Meyer who spends more time on the pages of Vogue than in a Yahoo boardroom. This is the event where haute couture is a must, avant garde is celebrated, and dressing to the theme is allowed. Although some take it way too literary.
The Met Gala is all business nowadays, with certain celebs even calling the party "boring" a couple of years ago. The cost of the table is part of the business plan of any fashion house worth their salt, and any actress or actor clamoring for a beauty contract or a brand ambassadorship will die for an invitation. Chiara Ferragni of the Blonde Salad - the original fashion blogger from Italy - is attending for the first time and is most likely the guest of Calvin Klein since they dressed her for the evening (she should send a personal note to her 3+ million Instagram followers who got her to his point.) Katie Holmes, who undoubtedly is looking for more lucrative commercial work, chopped off her hair while doing a hand stand. She was on the arm of Zac Posen for the evening.
