This year's Met Gala by far best yet

by Jada B.

On May 2, 2023, the annual Met Gala took place; the next day students at Airport High School were buzzing with many opinions about it. The Met Gala is one of the biggest annual fundraising events for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. The event is very widely recognized for its fashion and well known and loved celebrities. Each year the Met Gala has a set theme that guides the tone for the event, inspires its attendees, and gives an easy spotlight for designers to showcase their work. The event is usually held on the first Monday of May, it has some of the biggest celebrities known in entertainment and fashion since its start in 1948, it continues to evolve and grow in popularity with each passing year. This year's theme was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” honoring late designer Karl Lagerfeld, and the Gala itself was one of the most interesting in recent history.

The most iconic look of the night was Jared Leto’s outfit, inspired by Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette. The outfit was by far the most talked about looks of the night. The outfit consisted of a full fur outfit with the main headpiece being a replica of Karl’s cat, Choupette. Under the eccentric cat costume consisted of a black cape-like outfit, with jewels around the shoulder area. With an amazing blue shimmer eye to pull it together. Jared Leto’s outfit was a tribute to Karl Lagerfeld, who had passed away in 2019. Lagerfeld was known for his love for his cat Choupette. Leto’s outfit was certainly a bold choice, but it was one of the most memorable looks of the night. Leto is known for his daring fashion choices and this year's look did not disappoint. Jared Leto’s outfit was definitely a fitting tribute to Lagerfeld, and a very standout moment at the Met Gala

Out of all the outfits worn at the Met Gala this year, Billie Eilish has to be my all time favorite. Her look consisted of a custom-made all black, lacey Simone Rocha gown that had a high neck, with her hair in a long black braid down her side, gloves that went to around her mid shoulder, accented with lots of hanging lace and fabric, which had me swooning over the dress. Which is very impressive to me because Simone Rocha doesn’t make custom-made looks. This look was not her usual style, but she pulled it off beautifully, in a gothic-like attire. It really stood out to me, it was gorgeous and the best look of the night.

As for the theme, it was very clear and understandable, unlike some of the previous themes at the Met Gala, this year's theme being “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” very clearly making its point of it honoring the late designer who had passed. As some themes in the past have been too broad, which made the outfits all too different from each other and sometimes had confused me when watching. If I were attending the Met Gala, I would very clearly know what to wear this year, and every look honored the theme and Lagerfeld beautifully.

Some people however, don’t enjoy the Met Gala as some of the celebrity guests have some controversy surrounding them. I understand this standpoint as some of the guests have done some questionable things in the past, or have some problematic actions surrounding them. The Met Gala is a big fashion event, which I only look at for the outfits, and the fashion aspect. The Met Gala is a very easy spotlight for these designers to showcase their work, and the red carpet is easy exposure for these designers, we don’t get to choose the guests either, they have to get invited.

One student from Airport High School said, “I’ve always enjoyed the Met every year for awhile now, I always love the outfits that are worn, my personal favorite look from this year was from Suki Waterhouse.”

“I absolutely love the Met Gala, I look forward to it every year. I love to judge peoples outfits, but I really loved Jenna Orgeta’s outfit from this years Met, she looked stunning,” another student from Airport High School commented

This year's Met Gala was the best so far, with it being one of the biggest annual fashion events of the year, many people talk about it. With the iconic, beautiful looks and the clear, understandable theme, this year's Met Gala is the best so far in recent years. It was almost refreshing to watch, with many different looks, all very different from each other but all beautifully on theme. My favorite year from the Met Gala so far.