Hamish Bowles: The Superbowl of fashion, the Oscars of couture. The biggest night for fashion is inarguably the Met Gala. 

Harold Koda: It's a social situation where it's very rare in contemporary life. Fashion designers next to people who are their muses, who are next to someone who has a British title. 

Nicolas Ghesquière: It's a great celebration of, of our industry and it's also a moment when you can say yes, there is a very strong and dutiful camaraderie in the fashion world. 

Hamish Bowles: The cross-pollination of stardom, power, and showmanship makes the Met Gala the standout fashion event that it is. Whereas the Oscars celebrate the best in film, the Olympic showcase the best in athletics, and Presidential Inaugurations gathered the top of authorities in the political sphere, the Met Gala's guest list spans all these domains and more. The red carpet coverage of the 2007 Met Gala, for example, gives us a taste of stars who make appearances every year. 

Reporter: Putting out on a show for the cameras were Kate Bosworth looking retro in a champagne colored Prada dress. Renee Zellweger who gave us her fashion pose. Scarlett Johandson in Stella McCartney. And check out Eva Mendes in Michael Kors. 

Hamish Bowles: The influence of the Met Gala as an international media and fashion phenomenon was as carefully constructed as the garments that graced the carpet. Behind the glitz and stories that account for the Met Gala's gaining in prominence to draw the world's attention to its hallowed steps.

Welcome to In Vogue: the 2000s. A podcast about the decade that I should end a new millennium and redefined boundaries in fashion and society. Alongside fashion leaders, cultural icons, and Vogue's editorial team, we'll dissect the decades most impactful style moments and how they've shaped our culture today.

Anna Wintour: I'm Anna Wintour. 

Hamish Bowles: And I'm your host Hamish Bowles.

By definition the Met Gala is a fundraiser that provides the operating budget for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so there's a philanthropic spirit to the evening. Here's Vogue's Archive editor Laid Borelli-Persson. 

Laird Borrelli-Persson: It's a fundraiser. It raises the operating budget for the Costume Institute. So, I mean, it does have a function. It's not just a dress up party, but I mean, I'm not sure it's the kind of thing that you can buy your way into and it's a very exclusive guest list. 

Hamish Bowles: For the distinguished guests of the gala, the event is a welcome occasion to participate in a cultural event without the ever-present eye of the public. It's a rare chance for those bold face names who make the headlines to find themselves unscrutinised beyond the red carpet, because outside photographers are not permitted to enter the museum for the duration of the evening. Therefore, the media blitz that covers the Gala takes form in a flurry of flashing bulbs as journalists and paparazzi take rapid fire snaps of those ascending the staircase to the museum. That walk up the stairs to the Met can be a dazzling and overwhelming experience. 

Jennifer Connelly: That first experience of going there was so magical, you know, that huge red staircase that you just really hope you don't trip on going up. You know, it's so grand and spectacular. 

Hamish Bowles: This is Oscar winning actress, Jennifer Connelly. 

Jennifer Connelly: And all the people there and all of the dresses, it's just such a celebration. I just never seen anything like it. That scope that scale. It was like the most majestic party I'd ever been to. And that experience of going to something like that in the midst of all of these incredible works of art and feeling like you could experience that museum in a different way, at a different pace, in a different context, it was really, really special. 

Hamish Bowles: To experience the Gala means sweeping into the debut of the year's exhibition. Harold Koda is the former curator in charge of the Met's Costume Institute. His work to present exhibitions that were both historical and contemporary took center stage at the annual Met Gala. And as an attendee, he's been able to view the galleries he's arranged alongside some of the most well-known people in the world.

Harold Koda: The cocktail portion was so much fun because you're rubbing shoulders with the most unattainable social catches. I mean, you're never going to be in a room with some of these people, so you don't want to move. And the people don't want to move because it's, you know, they're seeing all their friends and they're meeting other celebrities that they've never met. So how do you get them to go to the dining room? It was always a challenge. I think the most successful, though it wasn't done more than a few times, was to have bagpipers begin to pipe and that got them to move. 

Hamish Bowles: Amongst the crowd of influential personalities are those who've been invited back to the Met Gala year after year, and those who are taking it all in for the first time. Andrew Bolton, the Met's Costume Institute curator remembers being all struck his first time. 

Andrew Bolton: My first Met Gala, which was so extraordinary, which is when hit Diana Ross performed. It was absolutely amazing. 

Hamish Bowles: The Met Gala is of course more than just a who's who of the moment. Just as dazzling as the evening's guests are the works of art that they wear. 

Andrew Bolton: It's still about using fashion as an expression of identity and self representation. So for me, it's very much about the power of fashion to galvanize those ideas and the power of fashion to express those very complex concepts of identity. It really is the interest in fashion on a, on a global level and the possibilities of fashion. I love seeing how the guests interpret the theme of the, uh, the exhibition. Sarah, Jessica Parker is always game, you know, she always responds so sort of specifically to the theme, 

Sarah Jessica Parker: I still take it dead serious. I mean, I really do.

Hamish Bowles: This is Sarah Jessica Parker. 

Sarah Jessica Parker: I think the themes, to me, you know, the idea behind the celebration. What is the collection that we're all going to be witnessing early, which is such a huge privilege that we get to walk through the corridors of that museum. And I'm always like, you understand what we're here for, right? I sometimes I think the outside world forgets that we're there in celebration of this extraordinary exhibit and therefore that's why we have a mohawk on. 

Hamish Bowles: This is Laid Borelli-Persson. 

Laird Borrelli-Persson: If the Oscars is for people that love film and celebrity, the Met Gala is for people who love fashion and celebrity. 

Hamish Bowles: For the fashion world's top stylists, such as Law Roach. The gala is an opportunity to collaborate with dream clients and brands. 

Law Roach: I've been very blessed to have relationships with the people that I dress that they have really kind of left it up to me to figure it out. And that's makes it fun for me, the collaboration and me being like the liaison between my client and the brand, you know? Cause you play a matchmaker right? Like you want to keep the people you set up, live happily ever after. You know that in this terms, who that's going to be kind of like the look. Cause those looks will definitely live, maybe be part of fashion history, which is a big thing.

Hamish Bowles: The raison d'être for the gala itself is the showcasing of, and fundraising for the Costume Institute. Andrew Bolton and Harold Koda have both helmed the curation of the Institute's Costume collections in different areas. Here's Harold. 

Harold Koda: We don't want to tell the stories that are already told, you know, our idea is that the costume is too. We have this marvelous platform, let's present something new. 

Hamish Bowles: This is Andrew Bolton. 

Andrew Bolton: I think speaking very broadly, I think our role is to record the evolution of fashion through artistic and cultural trends and developments. But part of it, particularly for the Met is to promote the artistry of fashion and to promote the idea that clothing is as an aesthetic medium is on a par with painting and sculpture to elevate the status of fashion. And I think what we try to do is offer new ways of looking at clothes. So interpreting clothes through, through different lenses. Whether that lens is history or aesthetics or sociology or my particular interest of psychology. And I suppose what we try to do in all of our shows is to try and recontextualize fashion. So I think in terms of our exhibitions what, what we try to do is have a menu of shows that it, that's dynamic and that sort of go back and forth between subjects. Between the past and the president, also to come up with a sort of strategy or, or a program that's both thematic exhibitions, but also monographic exhibitions of, uh, uh, one designer. And again, what we always try to do, whether successfully or not is try to think of a topic that seems timely. So in a way, to try and define a cultural trend or, or cultural shift. The point that is happening or is, is about to happen. 

Hamish Bowles: The research process, putting together such an exhibition is extensive and intensive. For Andrew, the key is finding a narrative. 

Andrew Bolton: I always feel as if the part of the role as a curator is to tease out those stories. I think every, every object, every, every item of fashion has a story to tell. And it's our job to sort of tease out those stories. 

Hamish Bowles: Like any good storyteller, the first step of curator takes when imagining an exhibition is to envision the possibilities within your given constraints. Here's Harold. 

Harold Koda: The beginning is wonderful because when you have the idea, you're imagining all the different great objects, which would support that idea. And then you find over the course of the next three months, as you solicit them from designers or other collections, that many pieces aren't available to you. Whether they're being conserved or in the case of fashion designers, they're appearing in Shanghai in the show that is committed to. And suddenly you're left with swiss cheese. The cheese is there, but some of the best bits are missing. That's the first part of it is securing the pieces. You've already pretty much laid out the broader concepts of the exhibition. And then the part that is fun is to think about how can you present this material?

Hamish Bowles: The work of the curators is an integral part of the storage history and the museum's collections. When the Museum of Costume Art merged with the Metropolitan Museum of art in 1946, it became the Costume Institute. 

Harold Koda: Originally two years after its founding at the museum, it had merged with the museum as a collection that was required to raise its own operating expenses. In 1948, the doyanne of fashion publicist in America, Eleanor Lambert, came up with this idea that they would give a late dinner dance and fundraise that way. 

Andrew Bolton: So the first party of the year was actually chaired by Dorothy Shaver in 1948.

Hamish Bowles: Andrew is speaking of Dorothy Shaver, then president of Lord & Taylor. Here's Andrew Bolton again. 

Andrew Bolton: Interestingly, it was actually held outside the museum and it was held either the Rainbow Room or the Waldorf Astoria. 

Hamish Bowles: Not only was the venue different from today's Met Gala, but the guest list was as well. Laid Borelli-Persson, again. 

Laird Borrelli-Persson: It was the usual suspects. I mean, it was mostly designers, industry. People looked glamorous, but not different than if they went to like a big charity dinner. It was a big event. I think it was an insiders event. 

Hamish Bowles: One notable, insider and regular attendance to these subdued met fundraising gala's, Anna Wintour. As Vogue's Editor-in-chief, she is of course the chairwoman of the Gala today. For Anna, attending as a guest gave her a helpful perspective for the future when she would be running the event.

Anna Wintour: I went a couple of times as a guest and it was very fashion focused and quite small. There was also a large group of New York society ladies. It had attention, but it didn't have the megawatt attention that it receives today. And there were wonderful exhibitions that were created by Mrs. Vreeland, but it was very much within a New York City sphere.

Hamish Bowles: The Mrs. Vreeland that Anna references is of course, Diana Vreeland, who was a legendary French American fashion editor and former Editor in Chief of Vogue. She later consulted for the Met's costume Institute. 

Tonne Goodman: She had been brought over to the Met by Thomas Hoving, who was the director of the Met at that time to revitalize the Costume institute.

Hamish Bowles: This is Vogue editor, Tony Goodman. 

Tonne Goodman: And she came in and she mounted her shows with volunteers. And I became a volunteer, of course working with Mrs. Vreeland was there never will be another person like her. She was, you know, it's simply incredible. So what she did for the Met was she created the Gala, the Met Gala. 

Hamish Bowles: The museum sensed an opportunity to continue reinvigorating their annual event. And they sought to ensure its success by tapping the fashion experts at Vogue. 

Harold Koda: And so the idea the museum had was to go to the fashion publications. And so they went to Vogue and Anna, and that was really what transformed the gala. By the nineties, the Met hadn't really changed in terms of its approach and part of that was because the Met is a grand-dame of New York cultural institutions. And if it does one thing and it's successful, they tend to stick to that thing. It wasn't going to change because it was very successful nonetheless, right? But when Anna came in, she sets for herself a bar of success that's related to fundraising. And I think that's, I mean, every fundraiser says that's what they do, but they don't quantify it or break it down into what will make it more successful. She saw the potential of the event to no longer just be a New York society event, but one that was a media event. 

Anna Wintour: I had no idea what I was getting into. Oscar and Annette called me up and said, 'you need to do this and you can never say no to Oscar and Annette, so I, I said, yes. 

Hamish Bowles: Anna was of course, mentioning Oscar and Annette de La Renta. Anna's vision was to bring the pages of Vogue to life at the Met. She was able to think beyond the rather sequestered world of high society in New York to the broader world of entertainment, opera, dance, Broadway, music, and film, as well as athletics, and politics, and tech excellence across a range of fields. She envisioned a celebration of the transformative possibilities to fashion. The first Met Gala that Anna chaired was in 1995. 

Anna Wintour: I remember looking down that first night that I chatted and with Emily Rafferty, who was the president of the museum that now, and just seeing all these young kids dancing, uh, in the Great Hall, and I don't know who was in more shock, she or I, but it just definitely felt that things had changed. And it was really important to me to bring in a much more diverse and inclusive group of people, both in terms of backgrounds and age, and just to represent New York in a different kind of a way. 

Hamish Bowles: Towards the end of the nineties, the Met Gala began picking up steam, but it took time for it to gain the level of renown it has today. 1999 was the first year that Gisele Bündchen was in attendance and she didn't know what to expect. 

Gisele Bündchen: It was so funny because I had no idea this Met Gala. I thought it was the fashion dinner celebrating the people that worked so hard all year in fashion. And I was like, oh, that sounds cool. My agent, Anne she came with me, she was my date. When Versace sent like three dresses and I chose that one and I w I didn't even have a hair makeup, nothing. I literally was leaving my house, and my agent was like Gisele, 'who's going to do your makeup.' I'm like,' I don't know myself. I just put some mascara' and she was like, 'no, no, no.' I was working with Gucci that day. 

Hamish Bowles: Gucci Westman is a celebrated makeup artist. 

Gisele Bündchen: She's like 'tell her to come over here and like touch up your makeup.' So she came to my house, did that make up, I didn't do my hair. I literally just put it on a ponytail. And there was no hairdresser. I was the hairdresser. And then I went and he was super fun because it was everyone you knew, you know, it was all the photographers, the stylists. So it was kind of fun to sit down and have dinner. And actually talk with them in a different context of just working. So that was really fun. 

Hamish Bowles: The gala continued to grow from an insider industry dinner into a global phenomenon that designers, celebrities plan their year around. Harold Koda saw the changes that Anna was making to the gala and what it meant for the future of the event.

Harold Koda: Without sacrificing the supporters of the museum, the social people in New York, she reimagined it so that it became something that if you were in media, you had to account for it in some way. And that I think transformed the party. But by 2000 it was full blown.

Hamish Bowles: In 2003 Anna Wintour invited Tom Ford to co-chair the Met Gala alongside its first celebrity co-chair, Nicole Kidman. Anna Wintour is meticulous in the selection process of who co-chairs the event. 

Anna Wintour: We try, um, to choose people that we think of very much of the cultural moment. We try to think about who makes sense, uh, in terms of the exhibition theme. We also try and invite people who we think will enjoy it, and be, make an effort and go there and have fun and really feel that they are hosting along with myself and whoever the sponsors may be. 

Hamish Bowles: The 2003 exhibition, the year of the first celebrity co-chair was "Goddess: The Classical Mode," which was one of the decades, most memorable exhibitions, curated by Harold Koda . 

Harold Koda: With Goddess, the premise was Greco-Roman costume has informed dress throughout the ages, which is something that a costume person sees. But I don't think the general public knows that just because something is called classic, uh, with all of the connotations of a persistent style, that there was actually a classical style. That in every period in some form, it can appear. Sometimes even with bustles and hoops, it's still called classic because it has vestiges of Greco-Roman the tire. 

Hamish Bowles: Andrew Bolton witnessed the Goddess exhibition as a guest. 

Andrew Bolton: I remember it was such an extraordinary experience for me because Nicole Kidman was one of the co-chairs with Tom and, you know, she was meant to arrive with Tom Ford on the right, on the red carpet. And she arrived with Adrien Brody. And they just won an Oscar. I think Nicole for "The Hours" and Adrien Brody for "The Pianist." This extraordinary moment of, uh, fashion and celebrity sort of coming together. And, and I think that is what's been uh, extraordinary about the Met Gala and what Anna's genius has been. I think she's, she's capitalized on the public's fascination with celebrity, but also what Anna has done is also merge that fascination with the fascination of fashion. 

Anna Wintour: Well, Harold would create the exhibitions and I would help with the opening night. You know, obviously mutual admiration, respect, but quite separate in what we did. And it wasn't really until Andrew Bolton took over as Curator in Charge at the museum. And that we started to work so much more closely together, both in terms of shaping what the exhibitions could be and shaping what the night could be and understanding that, you know, everything sort of had to weave in together and make sense together to, to create the best possible experience for the guests that night.

Hamish Bowles: Andrew and Anna have become a power team working together to finesse every detail of the event year around. So that the night of experience is seamless and unforgettable. 

Anna Wintour: We're always planning a Met Gala. I have a very long runway. We plan three or four years out, but there isn't no moment, uh, that I in some tiny corner of my mind that I'm, I don't have some kind of Met thought continuing. Because there's so many different elements to plan, whether it's way beyond the carpet, it's the guest list, it's entertainment, it's the dinner itself, it's a visitor's experience. It's you know what we, we put into the, into the Met shop. There's so many small details that need the correct amount of planning and God is in the details. And, you know, it's very, very important to me when our visitors and our guests are being so extraordinarily generous that from the minute they get out of that car that they're, or arrive on in a chariot or on a bicycle or whatever it may be that they're going to have the ultimate experience and that they're going to want to come back next year.

Virginia Smith: The thing about the Met and Anna's involvement, is that she is involved in every single detail. 

Hamish Bowles: This is Fashion Director, Virginia Smith. 

Virginia Smith: She has tastings at least one, if not two or more at her home with a group of people to make sure the food is like perfect for the night that it relates somehow to the theme. When we have Vogue editors who help seat people with at the Met, every single look is considered, I mean, nothing has really left for chance at the Met and it all pays off that night because it just all comes together. So Anna's like conducting an orchestra when it comes to the Met and she's very, very involved and you can tell, and that's why it's something that is much different than any other event.

Hamish Bowles: Luckily, and has always had exceptional curatorial collaborators, like Andrew Bolton. Andrew's curations are deeply thoughtful. He has wide ranging ambitions for what he puts on display. 

Andrew Bolton: I always like it when they go beyond the four walls of the museum. So I try in one of my ambitions for all my shows is posit more questions than answers. And I think that's the case with all of the shows that I try to do is that, that they're open-ended. That we just raise an idea or raise an issue and, uh, it goes out there in the public world and it continues to resolve itself. And the discussion continues to take place beyond the four walls of the museum, 

Hamish Bowles: Andrew Bolton made his Met exhibition debut in 2006, with "AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion." The Anglomania Met Gala was co-chaired by Christopher Bailey. Then the creative director of Burberry and British American actress, Sierra Miller. In attendance at evening was fashion editor Tonne Goodman. 

Tonne Goodman: Anglomania was wonderful because the exhibition went into some of the very, very famous rooms within the Met that are the recreated rooms, the 18th century and they were so wonderful because now you had the clothes alive in a room where they belonged in the period. And the sort of cleverness of the scene that was set was some of it was a little bit outrageous. Some of it was unexpected. It was pure, pure entertainment. 

Hamish Bowles: At the Anglomania exhibition, two guests who turned heads were Alexander McQueen and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Sarah Jessica Parker: I really wanted to, to go with him. I, I loved him so much. His talent was so extraordinary and it was so original and it was so, it was so brutal and beautiful. We wore those beautiful kilts that exquisite tartan and I think he came back and forth to New York. I don't know we did two or three fittings in person with Lee and we discussed every single thing. Every single solitary detail. I have to this day, I have every pin from that fitting every scrap. I have everything he ever touched in my presence. If he, if he touched a piece of paper and crumpled it up and tossed it, I grabbed it out right out of the waste bin. So we just I just did exactly as he wanted. 

Virginia Smith: Anglomania was like a wild Met. I mean, I feel like that was the first Met where it was somehow the formality sort of went off the rails and, you know, the Brits were there in full force. Not to say there was no decorum there, but I would say the rules were somewhat laxed at that Met and everyone was just sort of behaving, you know, it was very fun. It wasn't near as formal as it had been in the past. And it was a really, really fun one. 

Hamish Bowles: It was particularly special for Andrew Bolton as the exhibition was his first curation for the Met Gala. 

Andrew Bolton: It was quite a personal exhibition for me that, I was incredibly homesick at that point. It was also the time when British fashion was really at the forefront of fashion, so I wanted to do an exhibition that looked at the, sort of the romantic constructs of English culture. And you knpw Anglomania is always seen as something that was, is foreigners, uh, approach England. But it's also something that we promote ourselves as, as English, um, men and women and English designers. So they actively promote and perpetuate the idea of England rather than the reality of England. So concepts abound the garden, class, monarchy, pomp and circumstance, English gentlemen. I wanted to make a distinction between Englishness as a romantic construct form by feelings and attitudes, and Britishness as a political construct based on shared practices and institutions. So in one of the rooms in which was looking at the English Country Garden, we mixed on one mannequin, uh, Spitalfields 18th century silk with a, with a Phillip Treacy awkward hat. And the hat itself was almost like a three-dimensional representation of one of the flowers in the dress. So that was quite a radical sort of, uh, approach of mixing historical and contemporary pieces within, on one mannequin. And it had very mixed views. I remember walking through the main entrance of the Met and, uh, fellow curator, uh, was screaming saying 'you've prostituted the museum.' So it, it caused very, very severe .Reactions. The other one that I think was a little controversial was Superheros. 

Hamish Bowles: "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" was Andrew's 2008 exhibition showcased at the Met Gala. Co-chaired by George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

Andrew Bolton: It was a moment when superheroes was, was really sort of in everyone's imagination. And what I felt was so interesting about, uh, I always thought that fashion in a way, mirrored the superheroes preoccupation with the ideal body. But again, I remember Phillippe who was the director at the time, it was the night before the, uh, opening. So the Sunday evening, and I think I was, I was working on the Spider-Man, Spider-Man costume and I heard from behind me and Phillippe's distinctive voice, 'what have you done to my museum?' He was just horrified that, you know, we had popular culture at the Met. And so again, that was another, another show that was a little, uh, controversial, mainly because of, um, you know, how superheros is always seen as a sort of dime culture, sort of pop culture that didn't really belong in an art museum like the Met, but that was also another sort of comparison between fashion and superheros. How they're often quickly dismissed as something like that's trivial. Uh, and I think the trivial, the seeming triviality of both the superhero and fashion is part of its power because of the, of the ability to parlay that seeming triviality to convey very complex concepts.

Hamish Bowles: As with any exhibition, there were key pieces that exemplified the curators' thesis. 

Andrew Bolton: Every show seems to have a sort of a designer that, that bubbles up as being the sort of muse of a particular exhibition. And that with that particular one it was Mugler, you know, because of it, he engaged so much with that idea of just the metaphor of the superhero and the ability of changing, changing the body and using fashion as a way to, um, to change these complex ideas of, of, of metaphor and identity.

Hamish Bowles: The Anglomania and Superheroes Met Gala's brought refreshing energy to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by incorporating elements that diverged from traditional exhibition formats. The superheroes evening built on the Met Gala's momentum as it became fashion's biggest night. Everyone from Scarlett Johansson and Dolce & Gabbana to Beyoncé in Armani Prive shone on the red carpet that evening. Julia Roberts was accompanied by Giorgio Armani. And when speaking to a reporter on the red carpet, she applauded his personification of the theme. 

Reporter: Who's your hero because tonight it's about superheroes inside? Who's your personal- 

Julia Roberts: I really think that Giorgio in fashion is a superhero. He has stood the test of time. He has maintained his integrity, and I think that is to be lauded and heralded in today's fashion world. It's amazing.

Hamish Bowles: The Met Gala transformed from a benefit welcoming primarily society figures and fashion stars to an international event. People by the most celebrated figures across their individual fields. Here's Andrew Bolton. 

Andrew Bolton: It's extraordinary, the guest list. You know, people from politics, from sports, from film, from fashion, from art, and I think that mix of guests is also a part of the fascination and the brilliance of, of Anna and the, and the Met Gala and, and is what creates so much interest in it because so many people who are interested in those areas come together in this one night of, uh, of the celebration of fashion and personality in a way.

Hamish Bowles: No longer was fashion solely the preserve of designers, editors, socialites, and supermodels. But instead it was a reflection of all of the different worlds celebrated in Vogue. 

Laird Borrelli-Persson: And I think the change in the Met Gala reflects the change in the magazine. 

Hamish Bowles: This is Vogue's archive editor Laird Borelli-Persson. 

Laird Borrelli-Persson: It became less local, more global, less inside, more open to other creative industries and other kinds of fame. And the industry was doing this at the same time. Whereas a model would be maybe a designer's first choice, you know, to go to, Halston would bring the Halstonettes. You know, suddenly a designer wanted to come with an actress, or a painter, or a singer. And then at some point it just sort of went into overdrive. And while the guest list is small, the coverage of the red carpet is ginormous. 

Hamish Bowles: Today, every detail of the Met Gala's has become part of its storied mythology. Even the day upon which falls, the first Monday in May. Why was this date selected?

Anna Wintour: Well, that was made by circumstance in that, uh, an exhibition was canceled very much last minute and we therefore had to move it. It was in December and therefore we had to move it to May. And then we realized that that was just a much more appropriate time to have a show. That we weren't really conflicting with a million other events, which you are when you do one in December, but there was no strategic decision. And then we had the movie, which was "First Monday in May" the documentary, and then it just seemed kind of a fait accompli. 

Hamish Bowles: As the Gala evovled, the details of the event had to transform to keep pace with the attention it was receiving. First, for example, the entrance to the Gala wasn't decorative. He is Anna Wintour. 

Anna Wintour: I look back in horror. There's the most glamorous people in the world. Often in the rain seemed to me walking up the great steps without a tent or without a carpet or without a railings and then it was the wonderful Lisa Love, who I believe said, 'Anna, what are you doing this aware? All the pictures are happening. You've got to create an environment.' And we started off very basic with just a, a traditional red carpet, and still the railings. And then we moved on to hedging and designs on the red carpet. And now in a way, the design of the red carpet is as, as important as everything that we do inside because those are the images that go around around the world. So we're always trying to have a red carpet. If you look at the Comme des Garçons carpet, or the Punk carpet, or the Camp carpet, they do reflect what's happening inside. 

Hamish Bowles: Andrew Bolton pulled from the pluralism and eclecticism of the decade when builting his exhibits in the way it's at any artist draws inspiration from, and is the product of the times. The symbiosis between art and fashion is on full display at the costume exhibition that sits within one of the world's most renowned art museums. At the Met Gala, itself brings to the forefront the ever provocative question, is fashion art? 

Harold Koda: Most fashion is not art. Most fashion is a social historical artifact, but I think you would be very blindered if you didn't see a work by Vionnet or Balenciaga and say that something is going on in this particular material expression that is unprecedented and so highly conceptual that it transcends clothes and I think you have to do that. But you know, is photography, art? No. Some photography is art. And I think it's the, a similar criteria. 

Hamish Bowles: On this point, both curators, Harold and Andrew, agree. 

Andrew Bolton: You know, not all fashion is art, you know, and I think as a, as a curator, I tend to gravitate towards designers that advance or re direct the trajectory of fashion through their innovations. Now you have designers who engage with social and cultural issues like Chanel and St. Laurent, and you have designers who engage with sort of the artistic, uh, integrity of fashion, like Vionnet and Balenciaga, or Alaia and Miyake. But then you have designers who, you know, use fashion more conceptually like Hussein Chalayan and Rei Kawakubo. And then sometimes you get those rare geniuses to combine all of those qualities like Lee and John Galliano. So, um, you know, it's, it's peculiar for me, you know, the ultimate definition of art is something that is original, something that is, um, that it is created saying a new message, creating a new message about a particular subject. And it's fundamentally about originality and that, that cuts across every type of artistic medium, whether it's painting sculpture or fashion. 

Hamish Bowles: As it's powerfully displayed in the Costume Institute at the Met, fashion can make impactful statements on our lives and social histories. 

Andrew Bolton: Yeah, I think because fashion is so connected to the body, it does respond so directly and so quickly to culture, politics, economics, more than any other art form. So, and I think because it's so immediate and so accessible in a way, and in a way quite democratic that it has this ability to speak to a much broader audience than say, painting or sculpture or, or another form of artistic expression because we all wear it. And fashion has become so central to contemporary culture. So it has this incredible power to galvanize politics and to galvanize social and cultural issues and to be a canvas to express those changes. So to me, that's the power of fashion. 

Hamish Bowles: The power of fashion when combined with the power of celebrity has proven to be an intoxicating combination. When it comes to raising funds to benefit the Costume Institute, the 1995 Met Gala raised $1.3 million. And under Anna's leadership, that funding has continued to grow. In 2019 the Gala raised approximately $15 million. 

Anna Wintour: Of course, the evening and the opening it's fun, and we love it, and it's raises huge amounts of money for the museum. But in the end we do it because we want to open up our world of costume and fashion and culture to the widest possible audience.

Hamish Bowles: The Met Gala exhibitions have resulted in monumental fundraising for the Costume Institute. In addition to record-breaking museum attendance. The Gala has transformed itself into a platform where celebrities and designers push boundaries and stir the conversation while making fashion statements that amplify the proposal that fashion is art. Few designers in the 2000s pushed boundaries, stirred conversations, and made statements like Nicolas Ghesquière. When he took over the dormant fashion house of Balenciaga as a young unproven designer, no one foresaw the explosion of ingenuity that would follow. And you'll hear all about his rise to prominence in the next episode of In Vogue: the 2000s. Stay tuned.

In Vogue: the 2000s is presented by Anna Wintour produced by Vogue in partnership with Pod People. Production support by Jacquelyn Jamjoom, Tony Mantia, Rachael King, Met Sav, Aimee Machado, Madison Lusby, Fedia Lucas, Marie McCoy Thompson, Morgane Fouse, Mariah Dennis, Daniel Brunelle, Gordon Bramli, Nicki Stein, Percia Verlin, Stefanie Bichara. Theme music composed by DJ Ghostdad. Vogue's editorial team is Laird Borelli-Persson, Mark Holtgate, Nicole Phelps, and myself, Hamish Bowles. Special thanks to Vogue's creative editorial director, Mark, Guiducci, VP of Digital Video Programming and Development, Robert Semmer, VP of audio, Julie Shen and Director of Podcasts, Nico Steele. Please do subscribe to the podcast. It helps new listeners find the show. You can find additional information, incredible imagery and episode references in the show notes or at Vogue.com/podcast. I'm your host Hamish Bowles until next week. In Vogue.