0 4In case you hadn’t noticed, Instagram and Vogue are now fully in bed with The Met Gala and last night’s event has subsequently saturated all forms of media today. With the VMAs airing the night prior (and a transparent dress getting most of the attention), social media has been a glut of glamour/gaudiness, the past couple days.  We love fashion –and covering it– but something about the marriage of high fashion and social media at this very moment feels empty and over-calculated. There are thankfully, exceptions.

Couture is about art and commerce, yes, but when it’s more about marketing and one-upmanship than creative expression, it’s kind of sad and right now, when so many of us can barely pay our bills as we struggle to live with a deadly virus, it’s also tone deaf to many.  The event, which was postponed from May to September due to the pandemic, does make a great punctuation to New York Fashion Week however, and a fitting kick off to awards season (yes, that’s back too).

The Gala might be like the Oscars minus the awards but the rewards can be huge if a look is a hit, getting a celeb noticed and upping their followings online, leading to endorsement deals and other project$. If you missed it and feel left out of the virtual water cooler convos about who should be hailed (Debbie Harry, Iman, etc.) and who failed (A$AP Rocky’s blanket), you can still (hate) watch the stream at Vogue.com or Twitter.com. IG also has a lot of content (they sent us the “class photo” above).

As celebrities attempted to embody this year’s theme,  In America: A Lexicon of Fashion (or not), they ultimately faired better than past year’s attempts at “camp” and “punk.” L.A.’s own Billie Eilish and Amanda Gorman served as co-chairs this year, but they weren’t the only ones repping Los Angeles. Local designer Michael Schmidt also worked on one of the biggest looks of the night, Lil Nas’ tear-away gold armor, while L.A.’s best known body, Kim Kardashian, actually surprised us with her face covered, all black look. Was she making a political comment about the Taliban, mask-wearing in pandemic or the dark side of fame which renders those have it as dark, soul-less figures disconnected from their true selves? Doubtful, but we’ll give it to her, it made a statement and she stayed safe.

Watch the entirety of the live-streamed Met Gala parade from last night HERE.

 

 

 

 

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.