The 2025 Met Gala will celebrate the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” and at the helm of co-chairs Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams, alongside longtime co-chair and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
In anticipation for Monday’s event, below is a list of some of the gala’s most memorable themes from the past ten years.
Last year, the gala’s theme explored concepts of archival fashion and the preservation of precious garments. With the dress code: “The Garden of Time”—inspired by the 1962 short story by J.G. Ballard—a number of celebrity guests were dressed in looks that played on either traditional element of time such as Tyla’s sands of time inspired Balmain dress, or were designed with floral appliques, prints and colorways like with Ayo Edebiri’s three dimensional flower-adorned Loewe gown.
The event most recognizable to casual fans as the night Kim Kardashian infamously modeled one of Marilyn Monroe’s original gowns, the 2022 Met Gala brought elements of traditional American fashion to the museum’s red carpet. From Billie Eilish in a regency era-inspired custom Gucci gown to Blake Lively’s transformative interpretation of the the Statue of Liberty, the country’s expansive style history served as the muse for the night’s star-studded gala.
Perhaps one of the most popular Met Gala red carpets of the last decade—with looks from the night still appearing regularly on social media—the 2019 dress code simply asked guests to embody Camp with a capitol “C.” While some individuals like Lady Gaga took a more literal interpretation of the night’s theme—undressing on the gala’s blush carpet to reveal four looks designed by Brandon Maxwell—many stars took after Harry Styles, who chose to elevate his look with more subdued details including exaggeratedly high waisted trousers and a sheer black blouse.
In 2018 the Met Gala’s theme used traditional imagery within religion and specifically Catholicism to evoke beauty and style through fashion. To name a few celebrities who put a unique spin on the night’s dress code, Rihanna played homage to the Pope with a beaded ensemble designed by John Galliano, Zendaya embodied Joan of Arc with a Versace-designed suit of armor dress and Ariana Grande dawned a custom Vera Wang gown adorned in a large-scale print of Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgement”—a piece originally painted within the walls of the Sistine Chapel.
The subject of the iconized “The First Monday in May” documentary, the 2015 Met Gala was inspired by the Costume Institute’s ode to China’s cultural influence on style. A common theme among the celebrity guests in attendance was headwear which represented traditional Chinese symbols, silhouettes and florals. From Sarah Jessica Parker’s fiery red Philip Treacy headdress to Selena Gomez’s white orchid headpiece, stars embodied the night’s theme from head-to-toe.