At the Met Gala on Monday, a horde of photographers struggled to capture Zendaya and Kim Kardashian parading in couture gowns on the red (technically, mouthwash-green) carpet.
Not pictured: dollar sign. a lot of them.
According to a spokesperson, this year’s event raised approximately $26 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This is an increase of $4 million from last year TotalAnd more than double This incident picked up what happened a decade ago in 2014.
Overall, many of the charity events held to support the city’s other cultural institutions have been criticized. The most recent fall gala for New York City Ballet was a bit of a must-see. $4 millionand Celebration of the American Museum of Natural History brought in $2.5 million, Even The Met’s other events can’t compare: its celebration of art and artists extended $4.4 million Last year.
“There are very few other events that raise this kind of money,” said Rachel Feinberg, a fund-raising consultant who has worked on events in New York City. advantage Last year to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. “The Mets have found this formula that works great for them.”
The event began in 1948 as a benefit for the Costume Institute, the museum’s only curatorial department expected to produce its own annual operating budget. Since 1999, Anna Wintour, global editorial director of Condé Nast and editor of Vogue, has worked to transform the event into a highly profitable combination of celebrities, sponsors and brands.
Ticket prices for the event have increased significantly. An individual ticket this year cost $75,000 – compared to $50,000 last year and $35,000 In 2022. 2015 festival ticket prices exactly one third What do they do now?
But if your name is Zendaya, you might be in luck: Celebrities don’t usually buy their own tickets. Rather, brands like Chloé or Tory Burch buy out entire tables starting at $350,000 and compete to dress the most talked-about names. For these brands, the online and media attention on the festival makes it a powerful advertising opportunity.
The ceremony also raises cash from its sponsors, which this year were Condé Nast, luxury fashion brand Loewe and social media giant TikTok, which is facing a possible ban in the United States. Loewe’s designer, Jonathan Anderson, and TikTok’s chief executive, Shaw Chew, were honorary chairs of the ceremony.
TIC Toc refused to say What it paid to sponsor the event, and previous sponsors including Apple and Instagram, have been similarly tight-lipped about their contributions. It is reported that Stephen A., Chief Executive of Blackstone Investment Group. schwarzman is Contributed approximately $5 million As sponsor of the 2018 gala.
The nearly 400 guests in attendance this year included billionaires such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City; And Mr. Schwartzman.
While many viewers delight in analyzing the fashion choices made by their favorite A-listers, others are enthralled by the grandeur of the evening.
Pro-Palestinian protesters outside the museum criticized the incident. divert attention from the war in Gaza, The Condé Nast union, which was bargaining for wage increases, had said it would disrupt the event if no agreement was reached on the union’s contract. (The company reached a temporary agreement with unionized employees approximately 12 hours before the ceremony begins.)
And the night before the Met Gala, a DIY “Debt Feast” Held in Brooklyn to raise funds for organizations providing medical debt relief. One of its founders, Molly Gabe, told a New York Times reporter that the Met was “a fun cultural touchstone for distraction” but that it felt “cut off from the rest of the world.”
Another disparity between the two festivals? In contrast to the designer gowns worn for the Met, guests at the Date Gala wore reused robes, feather boas and other items from their homes and closets.
vanessa freedman Contributed to the reporting.
