The Met Gala is IMMINENT!

The first of May is the Met Gala – known by alternate name: The Oscars of Fashion. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala is themed every year to benefit the Met Costume Institute, and this year, the theme, or suggested dress code for the gala is “avant-garde.” Specifically, it is “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between.”

Rei Kawakubo is a 74-year-old fashion designer who arrests the fashion world with designs that shock and vitalize. Big names like Lagerfeld and Marc Jacobs are huge fans of her line, Comme des Garcons, because of her breath of “newness,” never recycling her own designs, and prioritizing art over wearability. Kawakubo’s designs can be seen below:

Why is this important? Well, it’s super different from the past Met themes. The Hollywood Reporteris calling it “anti-glamour,” as Kawakubo’s designs have rarely touched red carpets, and at this year’s Met, they’ll be worn by many, many stars. They say it’ll be easy for icons like Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim K to adopt, but a little weird for more classically styled stars like Selena Gomez, Tom Brady, Gisele, the like.

Further, I think this year’s avant-garde theme is fitting with a lot of recent news on stars intersecting fashion.

A$AP Ferg, a rapper, recently partnered his streetwear brand, Traplord, with Uniform, a socially conscious and sustainable label produced in Africa, that gives a uniform to a child in Africa for every item sold.

Elle Magazine also just launched Elle Fashion Now, a new interactive platform that will spotlight emerging, new designers from around the globe. Viewers can vote for their favorite looks – a push for multiplatform engagement?

Finally, luxury brand Jimmy Choo just opened itself up to stockholders.

Commes des Garcons’s website wears only three words: “Wear Your Freedom.” I know Kawakubo has been around for 40+ years, and I know her prices ($240 for a fedora) are far from “common people,” but as the first designer to be featured at the Met since YSL in the 80s, there’s a huge distinction between the two brands. Does this mean luxury high fashion may be at the state of displacement by a more hybrid, offbeat aesthetic?