Met Gala 2025 made history this week with its record-breaking figures. The event, held every first Monday in May, hosts A-list celebrities who flock to New York City. On each occasion, the creme-de-la-creme of society gather at Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour’s bash at the renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year’s edition, with its theme celebrating black designers, became the highest-grossing edition in the 77-year-old event’s history.
Met Gala 2025 Breaks Record For Highest Contributions
With an exclusive guest list featuring those from the entertainment, sports, arts, technology fields, and more, the Met Gala is a must-attend for many. This year’s edition of the annual high-fashion fundraising gala made history in more than one way. Even before the event began on Monday night, museum officials announced they had raised a record-breaking $31 million. This makes Met Gala 2025 the highest-grossing edition of the fashion fundraiser.
The theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, with the dress code Tailored for You, was another switch from the usual. It was a nod to black designers and highlighted the evolution of black men’s fashion. It was inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.
Ahead of the event, Anna Wintour said on Good Morning America, “What I’m hoping that this exhibition will do is really put a light on the talent of all these arbiters of style and look at their traditions and their history and their culture. But most importantly to me, in a way, is when I look at the show I see freedom. I see liberation.” She added, “I see hope. I see respect. And I see joy.”
Anna Wintour Curates The Event Carefully Each Year
The Met Gala has raised outstanding sums of money in previous years, too. 2024’s edition raised a staggering $26 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s costume institute. As with other editions, Anna Wintour has always been on top of things at the Met Gala. She also had help from this year’s co-chairs: Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams. LeBron James joined as the honorary chair.
The Vogue Editor-in-Chief is renowned for carefully attending to details of the event. The planning for each edition begins the day after the previous one. About 100 people work on Met Gala planning year-round, including 10 full-time Vogue employees. The late Andre Leon Tally, Vogue contributing editor, also said of Wintour, per E! News:
“Anna is meticulously vetting every single thing, from the napkins to the forks to the lighting. The detail of the flowers, the detail of the ushers, how they’re dressed, everything has been vetted for months and weeks and months and weeks.”
Wintour is also conscious about keeping the event shrouded in secrecy. “It’s very secretive. [Wintour] doesn’t want anyone to know what she’s planning or what she’s up to until the minute they walk down that red carpet and through the door,” Vogue contributing editor Plum Sykes told The New York Post.
With a guest list of 450 people, some missing and some right on point with their styles, Met Gala was a success this year.
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