Chair of the Met Gala, Anna Wintour, has announced that in keeping with coronavirus guidelines “all programs and events through May 15 will be cancelled or postponed.”
This year’s Met Gala themed around the exhibition “About Time: Fashion and Duration”, was due to take place on 4 May. At present, no alternate date has been proposed by the governing board.
The event, chaired by the artistic director of Condé Nast, brings celebrities across the world together, and works to provide the Costume Institute’s annual budget.
Once referred to as “an A.T.M. for the Met”, the 2015 iteration of the gala raised over $15 million from 550 guests.
Tickets cost $35,000 apiece, and each guest is individually vetted by Wintour. Attendance is by invitation only.
Co-hosts for this year’s event had included Nicolas Ghesquière of Louis Vuitton, whose brand was underwriting the exhibit, in addition to Emma Stone, Meryl Streep and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
To ensure the night in question is as exclusive as possible, all journalists and social media is banned.
Considered the biggest night in fashion across the year, Wintour announced on the Vogue website that continuing to hold the event would be both “unavoidable and responsible”.
A preview of the event will be offered in the May edition of American Vogue.
The Met museum and its subsidiaries, the Met Breuer and Met Cloisters, closed on 13 March, in keeping with guidance from the mayor’s office.
At present, there no reopening date has been disclosed.
