Get an inside look at the most glamorous event of the year.&nbsp;

The most exclusive event of the year is right around the corner: the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/kim-kardashian-met-gala-looks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Met Gala</a>. Hosted by Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, the Met Gala brings in some of the biggest celebrities, designers, and thinkers of the year to meet under one roof: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Select stars are chosen to host the event alongside Wintour. In 2023, hosts <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/dua-lipa-best-style-moments-y2k-celebrity-fashion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dua Lipa</a>, Michaela Coel, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/penelope-cruz-best-on-screen-fashion-moments-movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penelope Cruz</a>, and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/history-of-tennis-whites-trend-summer-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Roger Federer</a> helped the highly anticipated gala go off without a hitch. This year, 2024 Met Gala hosts Zendaya, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/jennifer-lopez-ex-boyfriend-relationship-timeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Lopez</a>, Chris Hemsworth, and Bad Bunny are stepping up to the role as first-time co-chairs.&nbsp;
Alongside the hosts, the Met Gala often offers honorary co-chair positions to guests of honor. 2024's honorary co-chairs include Shou Chew, the CEO of TikTok, and Jonathan Anderson, the designer and creative director of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/loewe-fall-winter-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Loewe</a>. Both companies are also sponsoring this year's gala. 
The Met Gala follows a new <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/every-met-gala-theme-ever" target="_blank" rel="noopener">theme</a> each year which corresponds with the Met's annually rotating Costume Institute <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/sharon-stone-visual-artist-los-angeles-art-gallery-exhibit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exhibition</a>. Some of the most iconic themes in recent years include 2018's "<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/inside-heavenly-bodies-the-costume-institute-s-latest-fashion-extravaganza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heavenly Bodies</a>" and 2019's "<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/met-gala-highlights-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Camp</a>."
In 2023, the Met Gala exhibition was titled "<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/cara-delevingne-claudia-schiffer-karl-lagerfeld-muses-fashion-legacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karl Lagerfeld</a>: A Line of Beauty." Since his passing in 2019, the memorable <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/fendi-fall-winter-2023-collection-runway-looks-photos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fendi</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gabrielle-chanel-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chanel</a> designer has been remembered and cherished in the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/adaptive-fashion-brands-accessibility-ability-inclusive">fashion</a> world. Inspired by the theme, countless celebrities arrived on the red carpet clad in elegant, black-and-white Lagerfeld-esque looks. As always, some guests offered outfits that skewed wildly unique, including Doja Cat's anthropomorphic cat ensemble, as inspired by Lagerfeld's iconic cat, Choupette.&nbsp;
In line with the seasonal shift marked by the beginning of May, the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/met-gala-2024-theme-details-hosts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 Met Gala</a> dress code is "The Garden of Time," corresponding with this year's Costume Institute theme, titled "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." The dress code theme draws its inspiration from J.G. Ballard's 1962 short story of the same title. "It's pretty much an ode to nature [...] Nature as a metaphor for fashion and for its fragility and its ephemerality," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/style/met-costume-institute-fashion-blockbuster-2024.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Andrew Bolton, the head curator of the Costume Institute.&nbsp;
Given the theme's connection to nature, we have no doubt that plenty of extravagant botanical creations will grace the red carpet for the 2024 Met Gala.&nbsp;
As people watch from the comfort of our couches on the first Monday of May, L'OFFICIEL explains what exactly happens inside the gala, with insider details on the red carpet, the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/celebrity-best-looks-white-house-correspondents-dinner-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dinner</a>, and the electrifying annual music performance.&nbsp;

Rihanna and ASAP Rocky. Courtesy of Getty Images.

The red <a href="https://www.lofficielmonaco.com/fashion/met-gala-2022-all-the-amazing-red-carpet-looks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carpet</a> is without a doubt the most memorable part of the Met Gala for the public&mdash;especially given that it's the only part we're allowed to see. As the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/karl-lagerfeld-met-gala-best-looks-fashion-chanel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">star-studded guests</a> make their way up the iconic Met stairs, they are bombarded with paparazzi.
Of all the high-profile awards shows, charity balls, and fashion events that occur annually, the Met Gala is one of the most photographed affairs of the year, so it comes as no surprise that many of its celebrity guests have confessed their red carpet anxieties surrounding the event. Red carpet correspondent Emma Chamberlain, who is returning to her role for the 2024 Met Gala, <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1320837/emma-chamberlain-was-a-nervous-wreck-during-met-gala-encounter-with-this-fashion-icon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> that in preparation for the event, she was a "nervous wreck," a feeling many guests can relate to.&nbsp;

Photo via Getty Images.

After the red carpet, the event becomes ultra-exclusive. Guests are asked to turn off their phones to keep details of the event private to the public and to create an open, safe environment for the high-profile attendees. After all, it can be difficult to mingle and socialize with other celebrities with cameras capturing every moment, even for seasoned veterans.&nbsp;
While no photos are allowed inside the event, many celebrities have broken the golden rule with selfies taken in the restrooms, a phenomenon that has become something of an annual tradition for many guests. Each year, a group of celebrities rarely seen together are pictured in a bathroom mirror selfie, offering fans a glimpse into the fun that goes on after the red carpet photos end.&nbsp;

Alexa Chung and Poppy Delevigne. 

As other stars make their way up the historic Met steps, celebrities who have already arrived enjoy a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/classic-summer-cocktails" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cocktail</a> hour. Enjoying their beverages and hors d'oeuvres, the guests mingle and check out the Costume Institute exhibition.&nbsp;
The exhibition at the 2024 Met Gala is sure to be especially unique, as it features over 50 garments that are too fragile to be physically worn again. The collection offers a rare chance to take a closer look at some of the most stunning, structurally engaging fashion pieces in history, so for all of the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gigi-hadid-best-met-gala-looks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fashion-loving guests</a>, this year's exhibit is a dream come true.&nbsp;

Christian Dior gowns from "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Once all of the guests have arrived, the celebrities settle down for a formal <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/how-to-host-the-perfect-dinner-party-food-drinks-decor-tableware" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dinner</a>, which takes place inside a grand hall with carefully selected seats for each guest. Drawing up the seating chart for the Met Gala is no easy task, as the planner must ensure that seating placements prevent any drama, make sure guests feel comfortable with whom they dine, and don't accidentally offend any attendees.&nbsp;
In 2021, Eaddy Kiernan, a Met Gala party planner, told <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/met-gala-seating-chart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vogue</a>, "We really try to think very carefully about who&rsquo;s sitting next to each other. Our ideal pairing would maybe be two people who we think will just get on like a house on fire but who may not even realize that they have a lot in common. So with each person, we really do take time to think, &lsquo;What will they talk about?&rsquo; We try and think a lot about sight lines and where people have sat in the past. And we try to make sure someone isn&rsquo;t staring into the eyes of a former flame.&rdquo;&nbsp;

kim kardashian met gala 2023

While the red carpet arrival and elegant dinner are highlights of the evening to be sure, another main event of the night is the annual musical performance. Once guests have finished sipping champagne and enjoying the sophisticated meal, a high-profile musician steps out to deliver a show-stopping performance. In 2015, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/rihanna-best-fashion-style-looks-age-birthday-pregnant-asap-rocky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rihanna</a> rocked the Met Gala stage with an energetic performance of "Bitch Better Have My Money."
The biggest Met production in history occurred in 2010 with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/lady-gaga-wears-versace-to-the-2023-academy-awards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lady Gaga</a>'s performance of "Alejandro," complete with dancers and a white grand piano. Other past performers include Madonna, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/men/the-weeknd-abel-fun-facts-name-merch-lyrics-after-hours-plastic-surgery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Weeknd</a>, and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/lenny-kravitz-young-photos-90s-birthday-age-daughter-zoe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lenny Kravitz</a> with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/kacey-musgraves-rainbow-birthday-looks-styles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kacey Musgraves</a>.&nbsp;

After the dinner and performance, the Met Gala ends relatively early so the guests have time to change before the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/sza-performs-at-epic-instagram-met-gala-2022-afterparty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after-parties</a> begin. While the Met Gala itself is an iconic, highly-anticipated event, celebrities have shared that they also look forward to the after-parties, where they have a chance to let loose and enjoy themselves in an informal setting.&nbsp;
During the second season of Hulu's <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/kardashians-hulu-show-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kardashians</a>, fans gleaned an inside look into just how much goes into prepping and getting ready for the Met Gala. In the episode, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/kim-kardashian-met-gala-looks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kim Kardashian</a> is seen enjoying a donut while changing for the after-party after weeks of working out and eating clean. The after-parties deserve their own look, separate from the fabulous outfits seen on the red carpet, and all of our favorite fashion-forward celebrities always deliver.&nbsp;

What Happens Inside the Met Gala?

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