The gala theme coincides with a major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, titled “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.” In a press release, the Met said the show will feature approximately 150 creations that “explore the stylistic language of the designer.”
Items on display will include designs from when Lagerfeld was creative director of Fendi, Chloé and Chanel, as well as pieces from his stints at Balmain and Patou and designs from his eponymous label.
The annual fundraiser is one of the most talked about red carpet events of the year. Credit: James Devaney/GC Images/Getty Images
Lagerfeld was a prolific draftsman, and most exhibits will be accompanied by corresponding drawings. The Institute’s chief curator, Andrew Bolton, said he was inspired to hear Lagerfeld’s design assistants – or the “hidden hands behind the genius of Karl”, as he put it – pay tribute at a memorial service.
“I was so fascinated by the way they communicated (with Lagerfeld), which was the drawings,” Bolton told CNN shortly after the announcement.
“Every drawing in his life was a sketch… And when I saw the drawings I thought, ‘They are so lovely, so whimsical, so impressionistic. But what I didn’t realize was that they contained really accurate information – about a shoulder line or the length of a sleeve. And (his staff) knew exactly what that line meant or what that dot meant, and they could decode it.
Bolton, who is also the author of an accompanying book, said the late designer “would have hated a retrospective” but the exhibition will be more like an “essay” on his work.
While the Met Gala dates back to 1948, the idea of centering it around an accompanying exhibition only emerged in the 1970s. Recent themes have included “China: Through the Looking Glass,” in 2015, and “Camp: Notes on Fashion” four years later. Individual designers have been honored in the past, with themes from the previous year including Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Gianni Versace and, more recently, Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo.
Kim Kardashian, pictured with Pete Davidson, caused a stir at last year’s Met Gala by opting for a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe. Credit: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Next year’s Lagerfeld exhibition will be open to the public from early May to mid-July. The gala co-chairs, which last year included Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, have yet to be announced.
Top in the photo: Karl Lagerfeld pictured with Blake Lively at the 2011 gala, themed “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.”
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