Met Gala 2024: Sleeping Beauties theme, explained

No celebrities will wear pajamas to the 2024 Met Gala.

On November 8, 2023, Vogue announced the theme of The Costume Institutes 2024 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the theme of the Met Gala entitled Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. The revelation was met with a myriad of confused individuals online, predicting a display of designer pajamas on the red carpet for the famous opening as well as a parade of princesses on the museum steps thinking Sleeping Beauties was a reference to the classic Disney cartoon. Yet neither is correct.

So, if the theme doesn't involve nighties or knights, what does Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion mean?

First, let's dive into the intention of the exhibition.

The new exhibition promises to feature 250 archival pieces from the Costume Institutes' permanent collection, some dating back 400 years to the Elizabethan period. According to Andrew Bolton, Wendy Yu curator in charge of the Costume Institute, the entire exhibition centers on 50 historical garments, latent and so fragile that they can never again be worn by the sleeping beauties of the exhibition. The main motivator piece was a Charles Frederick Worth original, a silk satin ball gown dating from 1877. Each delicate piece, some no longer in their true form, will be reimagined in innovative cases designed to bring new life to the clothes.

While the movement inherent in each piece is apparent even in a state of stillness, computer-generated images, sound design, light projection, Peppers' ghost illusion technique and video animation will be installed to propel these pieces out of their decor.

Just as a 17th-century bodice is meant to be contextualized alongside a modern acquisition, each archival treasure will be juxtaposed with more current designs from renowned designers like Stella McCartney, Phillip Lim, Yves Saint Laurent, Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior , all mimicking the same structural concept as its counterpart.

Through careful conservation, the organic essence of each textile piece will be classified into three zones or sections: land, sea and sky. In doing so, the idea is to highlight views of the natural world, how the perception of these spaces has changed and how they have been configured in fashion. In other words, we will be able to see the evolution of nature and how it was developed by the inventors of the industry.

Standout pieces from Alexander McQueen, such as the knife-shaped dress from Voss' Spring/Summer 2001 collection and the mesmerizing butterfly dress from Sarah Burton's debut collection at the fashion house in 2011, will be featured.

Overall, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion intends to unearth tangible pieces of history, some of which were buried years ago, to motivate conversation about natural elements and emotion, as well as to pay homage to the intimacy between a garment and its wearer with the transformative power of today's technology.

As for this year's dress code, Voguelooked at the romantic notion of eternal beauty with The Garden of Time. The title is the same as JG Ballard's 1962 story, inspired by a devastating dystopian vision detailing the story of Count Axel, the Countess, and their intrinsic crystalline garden with time-controlling properties. Count Axel is forced into a paradox: he must pick each flower to reverse time and prevent an angry mob from destroying the peaceful estate.

Depending on the focus of the exhibition and the dress code of the gala, we can expect to see the stars attending the Met Gala, the Costume Institute's annual benefit held on the first Monday in May, in period pieces on measure or revisited that channel all or one of the sections with embellishments reflecting on the preservation of the environment.

Designers often collaborate with celebrities to create interpretations of looks from past runway shows, but this time they will most likely imagine traditional structures, constructed with organic fabrics and materials. Looks should implement a historical aspect, recalling the evolution of fashion in tandem with conversations and feelings about climate and landscape. We can see many creatives exploiting figures from the Elizabethan era, playing with long, full silhouettes. Floral details or rosettes are also to be expected. But one guarantee for the Met Gala every year is that the stars dress up with absolutely no intention of being themed. So, who knows, maybe someone will show up in their matching pajama set.