Met Gala 2024: South Asians, and Color, Return

The first Monday of May, aka the Met Gala, which some have called the “Oscars of the East Coast,” is here again. As per tradition, celebrities descended upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and walked up its infamous steps — nay, handlers lifted Tyla up the stairs — to create some of the most memorable fashion moments of the year.

The 2024 co-hosts were actors Zendaya (who killed it with not one, but two looks) and Chris Hemsworth, as well as pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Bad Bunny. Presiding over the fundraiser was Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who allegedly approves every invite. The “red” carpet — this year beige, with green ombre, to hearken to a garden — ran from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (no, Rihanna, the usual scene-stealer, wasn’t there due to the flu). 

This year’s theme — “The Garden of Time” — seemed to be a response to last year’s homage to Karl Lagerfeld, which saw muted black and white tones, as well as cats (Lagerfeld really loved his cat). Last year also saw very few South Asians, despite the community increasingly dominating celebrity and fashion headlines. It seems, however, that Wintour is reading The Juggernaut. There was an ample South Asian guest list — though we wouldn’t have minded more (Dev Patel, Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, Joy Crookes, anyone?). Yet, many guests failed to take advantage of the more inspiring theme. Instead, we saw mostly muted beiges (including from co-host Hemsworth). The few who understood the assignment included Alia Bhatt, wearing a custom Sabyasachi sari, and Nicki Minaj. We will ask again: where has all the color gone?