2022 Gilded Glamour

The gilded glamour, white-tie, dress code is in reflection of the Gilded Age of New York, which spanned from 1870 to 1890. During this time period, the city was becoming progressively modernized socially, economically, politically, and even fashionably. This year's Met Gala theme pays homage to the tailors, dressmakers, and designers of the time — including names who've flourished and those who were forgotten but deserve to be remembered. It is the piece of a two-part exhibit that explores fashion in the United States. This exhibit highlights stylistic narratives and histories of the American Wing Period. Each immersive period rooms reflect America from the 1700s to the 1970s and captures men's and women's fashion. The rooms also display America's domestic life and the influences of cultures, politics, and style at each period.

2021 In America: A Lexicon of Fashion

For the return to the Met Gala after the COVID-19 pandemic, the theme was In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. Guests were instructed to wear "American independence." Stars such as Timothée Chalamet and Billie Eilish wore American-inspired outfits. Enclosed in scrimmed cases that represent three-dimensional "patches" of a quilt, they are organized into 12 sections that explore defining emotional qualities: Nostalgia, Belonging, Delight, Joy, Wonder, Affinity, Confidence, Strength, Desire, Assurance, Comfort, and Consciousness. It is the first portion of a two-part exhibition on fashion in the United States. Part two, In America: An Anthology of Fashion—which opened in the American Wing period rooms on May 7, 2022—presented sartorial narratives that relate to the complex and layered histories of those rooms.

2019 Camp: Notes on Fashion

Taking inspiration from Susan Sontag's essay "Notes on Camp," the 2019 Met Gala theme focused on extravagance. Guests showed up in their most out-there looks to follow the theme. Stars such as Lady Gaga and Billy Porter went above and beyond for their looks, while others took a more simple route. Colorful displays of clothing in the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibition Camp: Notes on Fashion was the 2019 high fashion art exhibition of the Anna Wintour Costume Center, a wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that houses the collection of the Costume Institute. The exhibition focused on the fashion style of camp, an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. It ran from May 8 through September 9, 2019

2018 Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

2018's gala was filled with the holy spirit. For the "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," the Met displayed rare artifacts from the Vatican and required guests to dress following a heavenly and religious dress code. Attendees took this theme and ran with it, and showed up in outfits inspired by the Pope, angels, and other religious figures. their goal was to highlight the influence of religion and liturgical vestments on fashion from designers such as Donatella Versace, and Cristobal Balenciaga. By placing fashion within “the broader context of religious artistic production” (like paintings and architecture), Costume Institute curator in charge Andrew Bolton, working alongside colleagues from the Met's medieval department and the Cloisters, aims to show how “material Christianity” has helped form “the Catholic imagination.” Heavenly Bodies was quoted to be a tribute to Andrew Bolton's exhibition, which displays fashion inspired by Catholicism and extraordinary treasures from the Vatican archives.

2017 Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between

In 2017, Rei Kawakubo was honored for her innovative designs. The event was co-chaired by Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams. Guests either wore designs from Kawakubo herself or wore outfits designed with Kawakubo's aesthetics in mind. This exhibit represents Kawakubo in an immersive world of Gesamtkunstwerk, "total work of art". The exhibition explores the works of Rei Kawakubo, a fashion designer renowned for her avant-garde designs and propensity to subvert expectations of what constitutes attractiveness, taste, and fashionability. Approximately 140 pieces of Kawakubo's womenswear for Comme des Garçons are on display in the thematic exhibition, many of which feature heads and wigs designed and fashioned by Julien d'Ys. These pieces range in time from the early 1980s to her most recent collection. The exhibitions highlight the designer's ground-breaking explorations of "in-betweenness," or the zone between boundaries. In Kawakubo's works, objects are arranged according to nine aesthetic expressions of interstitiality: Absence/Presence, Design/Not Design, Fashion/Anti-Fashion, Model/Multiple, Then/Now, High/Low, Self/Other, Object/Subject, and Clothes/Not Clothes.

2016 Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology

Celebrating the age of technology, guests wore technology-inspired outfits. Claire Danes wore a glowing gown, while Emma Watson wore an outfit made from water bottles. The exhibition focused on the difference between handmade and machine-made garments. The exhibition was established due to the dichotomy between Manus (the hand) also known as haute couture and Machina (by machine) also known as prêt-à-porter. With 170+ collection varying from the 20th Century to present day.

2015 China: Through the Looking Glass

The gala celebrated China's influence on western fashion for the 2015 exhibition. Looks from Chanel, Christian Dior, and Alexander McQueen were on display. Rihanna stole the show with her iconic yellow gown designed by Chinese designer Guo Pei. this exhibit is said to embody "haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear alongside Chinese art." The exhibition inverted Orientalism, choosing to focus on "the East as authentic".[3] The show "aims to readdress Edward Said's notion of Orientalism—a criticism of the West's depictions of the East as patronising and inauthentic."

2014 Charles James: Beyond Fashion

For 2014, the Met highlighted English-American designer Charles James. Sarah Jessica Parker, Bradley Cooper, and Oscar de la Renta co-chaired the event. Guests wore ball gowns and lively outfits in honor of James and his legacy. At a preview of the exhibit, Elettra Wiedemann modeled a replica of the "Four-Leaf Clover" ballgown.

2013 Punk: Chaos to Couture

In 2013, the Met Gala brought us back to the days of punk with the theme "Punk: Chaos to Couture." Guests wore their best punk attire with fishnets, mesh, and sharp cuts taking over the carpet.

2012 Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations

For 2012, the Met theme focused on the ideals of Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada. Schiaparelli made a name for herself in the '20s and '30s, while Prada made a name for herself in the '80s and '90s. Due to the gap in time, this "conversation" between the two would never happen, but both women shared similar ideals and principles. Many guests in attendance wore Prada, but some ventured out into Miu Miu, a subsidiary of Prada's grandfather's design house.

2011 Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

Staged the year after the passing of Alexander McQueen, the Met honored the designer's incredible legacy. Still-mourning friends of the designer attended the gala in his honor in different variations of McQueen's designs. Some wore his own label, while others chose to highlight his aesthetic with different brands. Featuring clothing created by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, as well as accessories created for his runway shows.

2010 American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity

In 2010, the Met looked to America for inspiration for the first time. Focusing on American women, guests wore outfits by American designers and themed by the country. Red, white and blue were the major colors of the night. Taking approximately nine months to complete, the goal of the exhibition was to create a "time machine" of women's clothing from the past to present.