How Well Do the Met Gala’s Attendees Know Their Art History? We Critique Looks by Madonna, Hunter Schafer, and More

Though the Met Gala is held each year by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the glitzy event is known less for its engagement with art and more for tapping the fashion industry. That changed this year, in large part because the Met Gala made a concerted effort to show off connections between fashion and art.

Taking place in tandem with the Costume Institute’s newly unveiled Met exhibition “Costume Art,” last night’s Met Gala carried the theme “Fashion Is Art,” a decidedly broad topic that allowed attendees to go in a variety of different directions. Some went far back in time, looking to ancient Greek and Roman statues. Others reached for more recent influences. The painter Amy Sherald, for example, went for one of her own paintings.

There are plenty of art-and-fashion crossovers these days, some more successful than others. That was the case at the Met Gala, too. Below, here are our thoughts on nine of last night’s art historical allusions.



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