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The Met Gala Has Announced Its 2023 Co-Chairs And We Cannot Wait

The Met Gala 2023 is just around the corner, and this year’s theme is a perfect tribute to one of the greatest heavyweights in fashion history.

On May 1, 2023, creative directors, models, actors, designers and more will take to the red carpeted steps of the The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute in New York City to celebrate the annual fundraising gala and pay homage to all things art, design and creativity.

As always, the theme of the event sets the tone for the clothing on the night. At the Met Gala 2022, guests including co-hosts Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, as well as co-chairs Billie Eilish, Naomi Osaka, Timothée Chalamet and Amanda Gorman marked the occasion’s theme - 'In America: A Lexicon of Fashion' - in a range of eclectic deigns from the likes of Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Atelier Versace and vintage Jean Louis.

In September 2022 the creators of the Met Gala announced the official theme for the Met Gala 2023 at a press conference in Paris during fashion week, and let’s just say it couldn’t be more fitting.

Here’s everything we know about the Met Gala 2023:

To kick off the new year in January The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute announced their co-chairs. for the star-studded fashion event.

ELLE UK cover star Michaela Coel, Spanish actor Penélope Cruz, tennis pro Roger Federer and pop star extraordinary Dua Lipa will be chairing The Met Gala in 2023.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute announced in September 2022 that ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ will be the next theme for the Met Gala.

A fan of the Met Gala and regular attendee (his last being ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ in 2011) it seems the perfect tribute for the ever avant-garde night of artistic jubilation.

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The Costume Institute’s Curator In Charge, Andrew Bolton, says of the choice of theme: ‘Karl never tired of telling me that fashion did not belong in a museum. When we worked on the Chanel show together, he was incredibly generous in what he lent, but he was completely disinterested in the exhibition itself! He would say, “Fashion is not art—fashion belongs on the street, on women’s bodies, on men’s bodies.”’

Speaking about how they will bring Lagerfeld’s vision to life, Bolton says: ‘Well the one thing I knew for certain is that we could not do a traditional retrospective. For one thing, I think Karl would have hated that. Even though one of his facets was that he was a historicist, and he would revisit themes in his work, he was always looking to the future in his own work—he hated looking back at the past. It was something he had a very conflicted relationship with.’

To get to grips with Lagerfeld’s creative impact on the fashion world in its entirety (from his designs for Chloé and Fendi to Balmain and Chanel), Bolton says the late designer’s memorial service at the Grand Palais in 2019 was a real turning point for his team.

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‘The speakers included some of the premiers he had worked with for years. He had a premier at Karl Lagerfeld who had also been with him at Chloe and premiers at Chanel and Fendi—and these were the people he worked most closely with to translate his design into clothing. And they spoke of him with such love,’ he noted.

Lagerfeld’s sketches will play a huge role in the theme, according to Bolton.

‘At its heart the exhibition will look at the evolution of Karl’s two-dimensional drawings into three-dimensional garments,’ he recently told Vogue. ‘And what’s fascinating to have discovered: I always thought that his drawings were very spontaneous and almost impressionistic. But they were in truth extremely precise, almost mathematical. We couldn’t see it because we are not trained, but his premiers knew down to the millimetre what each line meant. It was almost a secret code, a language shared between him and those premiers, that only they could fully decipher.’

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Around 150 of Lagerfeld’s designs, including his own and those of the brands he lead – will feature at the Met, along with the designer’s original sketches.

Architect Tadao Ando will be the visionary behind the exhibition’s interior, while interviews filmed by Loïc Prigent will form part of the exhibition.

Speaking about Lagerfeld, Max Hollein, who is the Marina Kellen French Director of The Met, said in a release: ‘Karl Lagerfeld was one of the most captivating, prolific, and recognizable forces in fashion and culture, known as much for his extraordinary designs and tireless creative output as for his legendary persona.

‘This immersive exhibition will unpack his singular artistic practice, inviting the public to experience an essential part of Lagerfeld’s boundless imagination and passion for innovation.’

As always, the Met Gala falls on the first Monday of May, which next year will be May 1.

‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ will be on view from May 5 until July 16 2023.

We will continue to update this article as more information comes in.

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