Anna Wintour’s annual Costume Institute Gala will be held tonight at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with co-hosts Marc Jacobs, Kate Moss, and Justin Timberlake. This year’s gala theme is Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion. Supermodel Moss will be wearing a Marc Jacobs design.
As for other models expected in attendance at the model-themed Gala: it is reported that Heidi Klum will walk the stairs of the Met with fashion designer Gilles Mendel; the lovely Coco Rocha will be dressed by and attending with Isaac Mizrahi; recently married supermodel Gisele Bundchen will be John Galliano’s date to the event.
It has long been that Wintour’s Costume Institute Gala is seen as a rival to Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter’s annual Oscar party in Hollywood, both in terms of fashion and style, and also celebrity presence. Some even chastise Wintour, viewing that she purposefully ups the celebrity and social status quotient of the Gala so as to compete with Carter’s February Oscar party, to the detriment of the prestige and class of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its reputation.
“The museum has struck a Faustian bargain with Vogue that diminishes the museum [...] The tail is wagging the dog,” Michael Gross said, author of the new unauthorized history of the Met to hit stores on May 5, 2009.
Missing out on tonight’s festivities are some fashion industry standards. “Karl Lagerfeld, a longtime friend of Anna Wintour who dines with her regularly at l’Espadon in Paris, will not share a meal with Wintour on Monday. His busy travel schedule, including upcoming stops in Venice, Moscow and London, doesn’t accommodate a transatlantic voyage for this gala, but Chanel will dress Diane Kruger and Kirsten Dunst,” according to Fashion Week Daily.
UPDATE: Supermodels Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista will not be attending tonight’s Gala event. “There were two theories for their no-shows: They no longer like each other and don’t want to have to pose together for photos, or they’re upset they weren’t chosen to co-chair the event while younger Kate Moss (pictured, opposite page) was,” today’s PageSix reports.
However, concerns over waning attendance due to the economic crisis — with tables starting at $75,000 — is unwarranted; this year’s Costume Institute Gala is sold-out, with upward of 100 top models expected to participate this evening.
