In a late-breaking announcement weeks before this year’s Met Gala that sends its star-studded guest list into a tizzy, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute released a new theme for the annual fundraiser. Abandoning plans to pay tribute to the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, organizers have revealed that the 2023 theme will be “Looting and Plunder”, a topical nod to the recent flood of headlines related to the holding of the museum of illicitly trafficked antiquities. The news was shared in a press release sent to the media at 4:59 p.m. sharp on Friday.
In keeping with the stated commitment to make the experience as authentic as possible, select A-list guests will be permitted to don artifacts looted from the museum’s collection, many of which have not yet been seized by the District Attorney of Manhattan or are easily retrievable, as they are still stuck at customs. As some celebrities scramble to adapt their outfits to the Eleventh Hour theme change, Kim Kardashian has already called dibs on all the artifacts in the museum’s African wing.
Anna Wintour, vogue editor and namesake of the Met’s Costume Center, said in an interview that she couldn’t resist the “unique opportunity to engage with some of the most fabulous items from the museum’s looted art hoard.” (Wintour has co-chaired the gala since 1995, around the same time looting was ramping up in parts of Southeast Asia, a fact she called a “funny coincidence.”)
When contacted for comment by Hyperallergica Met Museum spokesperson responded with a facepalm emoji.
“This would be a good time to remind people that I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MET GALA,” read a statement attributed to Met manager Max Hollein. “Honestly, I’ve always been a little scared of it all, but they’ve really outdone themselves this year.”
Formerly known as Costume Institute Benefit — a name the museum is begging the Institute to restore, according to multiple sources — the Met Gala is the department’s main source of funding for programming and acquisitions. Celebration raised a record $17.4 million in 2022, although this year’s figure could be even higher thanks to a simultaneous fundraising auction of a trove of priceless pre-Hispanic treasures taking place at Christie’s.
While many guests have expressed excitement about being able to wear Native American headdresses without being accused of cultural appropriation, some guests choose to skip the “looting and looting” theme altogether in lieu of a political statement. US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example, has already announced on Twitter that she plans to wear a white dress with the words “Museums are not neutral” scrawled in red.
