NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Met Galas, hesa国际传媒 been to a few. But James Corden, schmoozing at this yearsa国际传媒 cocktail reception, looked around and pronounced that this might be his favorite yet.
鈥淐lassy,鈥 he explained. 鈥淚t just feels really classy.鈥
The TV host waved his arm around the room, taking in the 鈥 鈥済ilded glamour" 鈥 and came in the best Gilded Age finery they could muster. Elegant gowns, shimmering with gold. Classic black and white. Tails and even some tophats. Headpieces and bustles and perhaps the accessory of the night: the tiara, sported by none other than Voguesa国际传媒 Anna Wintour, who runs the gala, wearing a family heirloom. Even allowing for creativity, this was not the night for artfully ripped jeans.
Of course, take one letter off 鈥渃lassy鈥 and you have 鈥渃lass,鈥 with all the tricky implications of channeling an era that saw the creation of excessive wealth and income inequality in the United States. Some guests wrestled with that thought as they pondered the meaning of the evening. Others pointed out, accurately, that the gala funds the , and explores unsung heroes and untold stories in American fashion history, especially women, and women of color.
Others said the night was an important way of showing that New York was back in full force, even with the pandemic still upon us. 鈥淲e鈥檙e celebrating craftsmanship and we鈥檙e celebrating America,鈥 said celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, who again this year curated the nightsa国际传媒 menu, choosing a slate of female chefs and taking on the main course himself 鈥 a barbecue-style beef, he said, with corn and succotash. 鈥淲e鈥檙e showing that New York is back.鈥
Certainly New York florists were back, if they hadn鈥檛 been already. The question is whether there were any pink roses left in the city after Mondaysa国际传媒 gala. The outside steps to the Metropolitan Museum of Art were lined with 50,000, with another 75,000 surrounding the lobby centerpiece. Another 150,000 roses bathed every inch of the Great Hall staircase 鈥 a striking backdrop for the hosts鈥 receiving line.
Also striking: The giant centerpiece, this year the tallest itsa国际传媒 ever been 鈥 a 50-foot, golden creation representing the torch in the hand of Lady Liberty. (Museum officials said this year for the first time, the centerpiece will remain in place another day, for public view).
As guests entered from the red carpet, with crowds screaming outside, they passed a 12-piece chamber orchestra that played American classics like 鈥淎t Last鈥 until dinner. After greeting Wintour and her (Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Regina King) guests wandered through the Arms and Armor galleries toward the American Wing and the huge Charles Engelhard Court, where cocktails were served and where curators built a bridge to access the exhibit in the period rooms.
Usually, guests eschew the exhibit for the cocktails, but there was a decent flow of people in and out of the show, for which . It was, said some of the directors, a chance to engage in a different kind of storytelling.
鈥淚t was really fun,鈥 said Tom Ford, not only a top fashion designer but one of those nine directors. Ford, assigned a room housing a grand, circular painting of Versailles and its gardens, 鈥 a famous night for American fashion in 1973, when American sportswear designers showed up their French couture counterparts. Ford decided to stage a real conflict, involving weapons like fencing foils. 鈥淢y 9-year-old kid was watching a lot of 鈥楳ulan,鈥欌 he quipped, when asked his inspiration. 鈥淚鈥檇 better go see that now,鈥 said actor and producer-director Mindy Kaling, who鈥檇 been chatting with Ford. 鈥淵es!鈥 he encouraged her, and off she went.
Inside the exhibit, meanwhile, director Autumn de Wilde (鈥淓mma鈥) was showing her own work in the period rooms to a few friends. 鈥淭hat woman has probably just lost the house with her gambling,鈥 she said, pointing to a clearly distressed woman mannequin next to an overturned cards table. 鈥淚 wanted to show how messy peoplesa国际传媒 lives are,鈥 she said. 鈥淎 beautiful home doesn鈥檛 mean a beautiful life.鈥
At that moment, a real 鈥淕ilded Age鈥 character walked in 鈥 actress Den茅e Benton, who stars in HBOsa国际传媒 series of the same name. She congratulated de Wilde for her work, and de Wilde told her she was 鈥渙bsessed鈥 with her show.
Benton may not have chosen to wear a Gilded Age bustle, but Franklin Leonard did 鈥 two of them, actually. Leonard, a film executive who helped curator Andrew Bolton pick the diverse slate of film directors for the exhibit, said he was channeling Frederick Douglass in a coat that had not one bustle but two 鈥 on either side 鈥 one of the more clever looks of the night.
鈥淚 guess itsa国际传媒 a double bustle,鈥 he said, crediting designer Ken Nicholson. Leonard, attending his first gala, said it was a surreal experience. 鈥淚, the captain of the high school math team in Columbus, Georgia, never thought I鈥檇 be wearing a double bustle jacket, inspired by Frederick Douglass, at the Met Ball,鈥 he said. "It wasn鈥檛 part of the plan.鈥
鈥淟isten,鈥 Leonard said, pondering the uneasy balance between art and excess. 鈥淔or all the excess, this is a fundraiser for the Costume Institute.鈥 (And how: the institute said Tuesday that .) He also said he was deeply proud to have helped put together the slate of filmmakers for the show, who include not only gala hosts Ford and King but Radha Blank, Janicza Bravo, Sofia Coppola, Julie Dash, de Wilde, Martin Scorsese and Chlo茅 Zhao, last yearsa国际传媒 Oscar winner. 鈥淭hey were the best group of filmmakers out there,鈥 he said.
Though many sipping cocktails and munching on coconut ceviche hors d鈥檕euvres were gala veterans, there were a number of first-timers. Many remarked that the most surreal part was seeing such a concentration of stars from all walks of life, . Or when, as happened Monday, a fun band starts snaking through cocktails, with drums and a tuba and a guy leading it with a melodica, you look more closely and the melodica guy is Jon Batiste, who .
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was thrilled to attend his first gala. He wasn鈥檛 even the only New York mayor in attendance 鈥 Michael Bloomberg was there, too.
and featuring symbols of the city he has run for several months, said he was thinking about the 鈥渧ery real鈥 income inequality that stemmed from the Gilded Age, as the city now recovers from the pandemic.
Noting that the wealthiest 2% of the city was represented in the room, he said his role was 鈥渢o come among these New Yorkers and talk about the issues that the other 98% of New Yorkers need that are not in this room 鈥. Not to divide us, but to unite us.鈥
Adams also joked about a tabloid report that he had been dying to come to the gala for years.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been trying to get ME to come for years,鈥 he quipped.
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