At the Met Gala on Monday, scores of photographers battled to capture the red (technically mouthwash green) carpet parading Zendaya and Kim Kardashian's couture gowns.
Not pictured: Dollar sign. Many of them.
This year's event raised about $26 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, according to a spokesperson. That's $4 million more than last year's total and more than double the amount raised at the event 10 years ago in 2014.
This total slams the charity event, which goes on to support many of the city's other cultural institutions. The New York City Ballet's most recent fall gala raised just under $4 million, and the American Museum of Natural History gala raised $2.5 million. No other event at The Met compares. The Art & Artists Gala raised $4.4 million last year.
“There are very few other events that raise this kind of money,” said Rachel Feinberg, a fundraising consultant who has worked on galas in New York City, including a benefit for Queens Elmhurst Hospital last year. “The Met discovered this formula that was fantastic for them.”
The event began in 1948 as a benefit for the Costume Institute, the museum's only curatorial department expected to float its own annual operating budget. Since 1999, Anna Wintour, global editorial director of Condé Nast and editor-in-chief of Vogue, has worked to transform galas into hugely profitable events that combine celebrities, sponsors and brands.
Gala ticket prices have increased significantly. This year, individual tickets cost $75,000. Last year it was $50,000 and in 2022 it was $35,000. Tickets to the 2015 gala cost exactly one-third of what they cost now.
But if your name is Zendaya, you might be in luck. Celebrities don't usually buy tickets themselves. Rather, brands like Chloé and Tory Burch purchase entire tables starting at $350,000 and compete to wear clothes from the most popular brands. For these brands, the online and media attention the gala receives makes it a powerful advertising opportunity.
The gala also raised cash from this year's sponsors Condé Nast, luxury fashion brand Loewe and social media giant TikTok, which faces a possible ban in the United States. Loewe designer Jonathan Anderson and TikTok CEO Shou Chew served as gala honorary chairs.
TikTok declined to reveal how much it paid to sponsor the event, and past sponsors including Apple and Instagram have been similarly tight-lipped about their contributions. Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Investment Group, reportedly donated about $5 million in sponsorship of the 2018 gala.
About 400 guests attended this year, including billionaires such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg; And Mr. Schwarzman.
While many viewers took pleasure in analyzing the fashion choices of their favorite A-listers, others were kept busy by the evening's glamour.
Outside the museum, pro-Palestinian protesters accused the event of being a distraction from the war in Gaza. The Condé Nast union, which was negotiating wage increases, said it would disrupt the event if an agreement on a union contract was not reached. (The company reached a tentative agreement with union members about 12 hours before the gala event began.)
And the night before the Met Gala, a DIY “Debt Gala” was held in Brooklyn to raise money for organizations that help relieve medical debt. One of the founders, Molly Gaebe, told a New York Times reporter that while the Met was “a fun cultural touchstone to distract from,” she felt “disconnected from the rest of the world.”
What are other differences between the two galas? Unlike the designer gowns commissioned for the Met, guests at the Debt Gala wore bathrobes, feather boas, and other items recycled from home and closets.
Vanessa Friedman contributed to the report.