Last night, the world tuned in with bated breath for the 2024 installment of fashion’s prom and American culture’s grand ball. The 2024 MET Gala, themed Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, ushered the opening of the exhibition by the same name. The yearly phenomena (save for a few COVID intermissions and reschedulings, double bookings) draws global eyes, stirs guestlist controversy, and brings together the proverbial prom court of that year’s headlines. Since 1948, the institution’s fundraiser has cake-topped philanthropy season, ultimately generating endless content through which to sift, to dissect, the sartorial statements of said year’s chosen class. In a saintly maneuver, New York-based fashion writer and creative consultant Kristen Bateman has alleviated the masses from the tireless scroll through the good, the bad, and the simply questionable. With a foreword by renowned designer and carpet constant Jeremy Scott, Bateman presents the best of the MET, in its entirety, cutting insightful commentary and stunning visuals. Reserved sat down with Bateman to discuss the process of the tome, anticipatory of this year’s event. Save yourself the time, close that WWD gallery of last night’s 1,000+ images, and instead indulge in Bateman’s careful curation.
What was the inspiration behind this compilation?
The inspiration was to share how the Met Gala brings together fashion, art, culture, celebrity and commerce like no other event in the world. I wanted to share the history of the event as well as an overview of some of the exhibitions, designers, style icons and red carpet looks that have made historical impacts, with context behind it all.
What was the research process like?
The research is all based on my 10+ years of experience as a fashion writer for some of the top publications in the industry ranging from Vogue to New York Times. I’ve been writing about the Met Gala and the fashion surrounding it for over a decade. I also wanted to go back in time before the event became the media sensation it is today, so this involved looking at some of the very few pieces of media coverage that existed for the early iterations of the met gala in the 1950s and 1960s, for example.
What was your personal favorite MET moment, whether it be one year’s theme l or a certain look?
I think Zendaya and Law Roach always do a fantastic job at integrating storytelling into her red carpet looks for the Met Gala and always taking things to the next level.
I loved Lil Kim’s all pink Versace look in 1999. I think it was a great example of combining personal style with character. She is also the blueprint for so many examples of great fashion today. I think the Heavenly Bodies exhibition was an amazing example of combining wider culture with fashion in a really unique way.
Why do you believe the cultural moment of the MET Gala has been able to transcend fashion, attracting gawkers from all industries and backgrounds globally each year?
Today, there is no other event quite like the Met Gala. Nothing else brings together fashion, art, celebrity, money and power in quite the same way. It’s bigger than fashion week. The coverage of it is so ubitiqious you can’t escape it. With social media, people are now participating in the event in their own way. The exhibitions also play a big part of it because anyone can attend. Millions of people visit the exhibitions that are tied to the Met Gala each year. In 2018, Heavenly Bodies attracted more than 1.65 million visitors to The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters, making it The Met’s most visited exhibition. This brings fashion history and fashion education to the masses like it never has before. In fact, one could argue that the Met Gala has brought major attention and fanfare to the idea of fashion exhibitions in museums. They didn’t exist on this level prior to The Met making them these kinds of major attractions.
How did you come to collaborate with Jeremy Scott, author of the foreword, on this book? What was that process like? Did you two work separately, or was he involved in the entire process?
I wanted to have Jeremy Scott write the foreword because he’s created some of the most wild and iconic Met Gala looks of all time, from chandeliers to hamburgers. I interviewed him a couple times in the past and also knew he would be someone who had a fun voice that’s full of personality. I was so happy when he said yes. I gave him a bit of a prompt for the foreword and the rest is history. I think it’s a very exciting part of the book.
Do you plan on updating the book years from now, with all the MET Gala’s to come, or are you wanting it to stand as a time capsule of the MET’s history up to this moment?
I would love to update it or potentially do a volume 2 of the book eventually. Writing a book like this, the most challenging thing is always choosing the curation of what to include. Of course there are so many other moments from the past I would love to expand on and there’s always going to be more moments in the future that are defining. As it stands, I think the book gives a great overview from the Met Gala’s inception in 1948 to the current state of 2024.
