Response to the Met Gala 2023 Theme
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The Met Gala has announced the 2023 theme will be centered around Karl Lagerfeld. The Costume Institute has chosen to showcase the works of the fashion legend, titling the exhibition, ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’. The event will feature around 150 of Lagerfeld’s inimitable sketches, showcasing a variety of iconic outfits.
Visitors will be able to see Lagerfeld’s sketch archives, gaining exclusive access to one of the most creative minds in the fashion industry. The exhibition will spotlight Lagerfeld’s designs for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel and his eponymous label. Anna Wintour, the annual hostess of the Met Gala, has had a longtime friendship with Lagerfeld. Regardless of theme, Wintour has almost exclusively worn Chanel and it thus comes as no surprise why Lagerfeld is being honored.
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However, the decision to commemorate Lagerfeld, who passed in 2019, sparked mass controversy online due to a series of past damaging comments from Lagerfeld. In 2009, Lagerfeld claimed, ‘no one wants to see round women’ before calling Adele ‘a little too fat’ and Heidi Klum ‘too heavy’. Lagerfeld also claimed Coco Chanel was not feminist enough as Coco ‘was never ugly enough for that’. In an industry infamous for marginalization, Lagerfeld was a voice who actively defended discriminatory practices. In 2008, Lagerfeld had Claudia Schiffer appear in blackface and yellowface. Lagerfeld called Muslim people the ‘worst enemies’ of Jewish people whilst condemning the acceptance of refugees into France.
Accompanying these derogatory comments, the Met’s upcoming theme reignited conversations about the dismissal of sexual assault allegations, with Lagerfeld once saying to fashion magazine Numéro, ‘if you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model’. The Good Place activist, Jameela Jamil, condemned the Met 2023 exhibition, criticizing Lagerfeld’s use of his platform ‘in such a distinctly hateful way, mostly toward women, so repeatedly’ and ‘showing no remorse, offering no atonement, no apology, no help to the groups he attacked’.
Supported by many online users, Jamil expressed shock at this choice of theme. Lucianne Tonti, a fashion researcher, explained the industry is crippled with a ‘short memory’ and will often overlook transgressions for the next viral social media trend or hyped clothing collection.
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Whilst the Met Gala is frequently seen as an escape from the troubling matters of the surrounding society, this glamorous celebration of fashion cannot exist outside issues that are relevant to so many. Some argue the Met 2022 theme of ‘Gilded Glamor’ also seemed inappropriate given the event was held when COVID-19 deaths and financial strain were huge concerns.
Many are drawn into this alternative, almost mythological, world offered by designers that is separate from everyday life. The fashion industry becomes an alluring space divorced from a less-than-perfect reality. Whilst Lagerfeld’s artistic contribution cannot be ignored, there must simultaneously be a focus on accountability as Lagerfeld’s ideologies represent the opposite of where the fashion industry should be heading.
Strike Out,
Writer: Mae Brennan
Editors: Katie Sharp, Natalie Daskal
