Parties, Exhibitions, People Tells the Definitive Met Gala Story

Whether you’re a Hollywood icon or an up-and-coming designer, there seems to be one common description of attending the Met gala for the first time: It’s a whirlwind. The blinding flashbulbs as you climb the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s grand staircase; the spectacle of the Costume Institute’s latest exhibition; the pull of the dinner table, where you might find yourself sitting next to a sporting superstar or a fashion muse; the dizzying compulsion to dance to a performance from one of the world’s most legendary musicians. Then, before you know it, it’s all over—that is, unless you’re ready to stay up until the early hours at one of the night’s many afterparties.

The fleeting nature of fashion’s biggest night out is part of the reason why, back in 2014, Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute teamed up to produce Parties, Exhibitions, People. The book charts the exhibitions themselves—they also have their own sumptuously designed catalogues—but also the opening nights, providing a rare inside look into the epic efforts to ensure every exhibition’s theme is echoed in every detail, from the outfits of the event’s ushers to the table settings.

Now that another five years of exhibitions have come and gone, Parties, Exhibitions, People has returned with an updated and expanded release that offers an entirely new pulling-back of the curtain. “I’ve always thought that planning each year’s gala is a lot like producing a Hollywood blockbuster, from the initial idea, through strategizing, scripting, and casting, to scrutinizing every last detail,” says Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, of the new edition. “To take that Hollywood-blockbuster analogy a step further, the opening gala is our once-a-year chance to raise enough funds to secure an expansive future for what’s now considered the preeminent fashion museum in the world.”

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Vogue and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute: Parties, Exhibitions, People

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THE MET STORE

The book was written by Vogue’s International editor-at-large Hamish Bowles and edited by contributing editor Chloe Malle, with a foreword by Max Hollein, the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Many of Bowles’s essays—all packed with wit, wonder, and insight into how each exhibition reflected the contemporary fashion vernacular—were first published in the May special-edition issues of the magazine.

So too is the book lavishly illustrated, with images of each exhibition’s most breathtaking installations and tableaux appearing alongside photographs from the pages of Vogue, where standout pieces were reinterpreted in a variety of bold, fantastical new ways. Finally, of course, there are plenty of behind-the-scenes snaps for those seeking a vicarious experience of the night itself.

This year’s Met gala and Costume Institute exhibition have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fashion community and its most avid fans have ingeniously sought to recreate the one night of the year when style is celebrated at its most inventive and outrageous. All the same, with its comprehensive insight into the past two decades of fashion’s biggest annual celebration and its significant fundraising efforts, Parties, Exhibitions, People serves not just as a dose of gorgeous history and escapism, but also a beacon of hope that the show will go on.

Here, a selection of images from the updated edition of Vogue and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute: Parties, Exhibitions, People: