All that “gilded glamour” brought in some real gold. This year's Met Gala earned a record $17.4 million, museum officials said Tuesday.
The annual gala is a fundraiser for the self-funding Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The money pays for operating the institute and putting on annual blockbuster exhibits like the current “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” which was launched at the gala Monday night and opens to the public May 7. That exhibit is part of a broader two-part exhibit exploring the roots of American fashion.
Blake Lively attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 2, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
The gala is traditionally held the first Monday in May, but because of the pandemic, the 2021 version was held last September. The two galas together brought in $33.7 million, the institute said.
The theme of Monday's gala was “gilded glamour.”
Monday’s gala brought together about 400 guests — some of the biggest names from fashion, entertainment, sports and beyond.