Every year, event planner Raul Ávila is given a daunting task: to transform the Metropolitan Museum of Art into an otherworldly spectacle for the annual Met Gala. For 2019’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” he created a 25-foot tall, flamboyant flamingo centerpiece comprised of 30,000 flowers. In 2018, he erected a rose recreation of a papal crown for “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” And those are just examples of floral formations: In 2007, for “Poiret: King of Fashion,” he filled a gilded birdcage with live peacocks. Minor chaos ensued when one escaped. “Everyone at the museum was chasing after her to get her back into the cage,” he recalled.
Each event brings an adventure: in 2013, Ávila and his team flew in a chandelier from London and rigged it with razor blades for that year’s punk-themed bash, and “Heavenly Bodies” saw the Met’s grand staircase alight with thousands of candles. Then there are the table settings: 2019, for example, saw tablescapes with bamboo flatware, feather lampshades, floral plates, and shocking pink tablecloths.
2023’s soirée, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” honored the Chanel creative director with its decor. The Temple of Dendur boasted a set that resembled Lagerfeld’s home library, while the tablescapes took aesthetic cues for the famous wedding reception he threw for Paloma Picasso. Meanwhile, 2024 saw Ávila and the Vogue special events team turn the Temple of Dendur into an enchanted forest.
This year’s event—“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” —and its sure-to-be fantastical decor will take place on May 5. So until then, take a spin through the Met Gala interiors throughout the years, from 2005’s Chanel-themed soiree to the most recent affair in 2024.
