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The 2023 Met Gala is steadily approaching. This year’s theme is “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” and guests are encouraged to dress “in honor of Karl.”
Since its inception in 1971, the Met Gala has been one of the most sought-after fashion events of the year, frequented by a slew of A-list celebrities in some of their most extravagant looks. The Met Gala has also been a source of inspiration for entertainment, appearing in number of TV shows and movies throughout the years.
Among them is “Ocean’s 8,” a film released in 2018 that featured an all-female team of thieves and specialists who planned a heist during the 2018 Met Gala. Other entertainment projects literally recreated the Met Gala entirely, including the HBO Max reboot series “Gossip Girl,” which saw the cast walk in designer looks during a mock Met Gala.
Here, WWD takes a closer look at the TV shows and movies that reimagined the Met Gala for the screen ahead of the May 1 event. Read on for more.
“Devil Wears Prada”
Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt in “The Devil Wears Prada.”
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Starring Anne Hathaway alongside Meryl Streep, the “Devil Wears Prada” centered around Hathaway playing a recent graduate who lands a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly, an intense editor in chief at a fashion magazine which hosts an annual Met Gala-esque event. Though not actually the Met Gala, the fictional soirée parallels the actual event, attracting a bold face name roster of guests. In real life, Streep was tapped as one of the co-chairs for the 2020 Met Gala before it was canceled due to the pandemic. The theme would have been “About Time: Fashion and Duration.”
“Ocean’s 8”
Sarah Paulson in a clip from “Ocean’s 8.”
©Warner Bros/courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
Released in 2018, the entire plot of “Ocean’s 8” centered around a group of women that curated a heist at the Met Gala to secure a $150 million Cartier necklace worn by Daphne Kluger (played by Anne Hathaway). Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock and Rihanna were among the all-star actress cast. One of the moments from the Met Gala scene in the film showcased Rihanna (who has appeared at the real-life Met Gala) walking down red-carpet adorned steps in an off-the-shoulder Zac Posen gown with a mermaid silhouette. That year, the actual Met Gala theme was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”
“Gossip Girl”
Zión Moreno and Jordan Alexander in the season two final episode of HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl.”
COURTESY OF HBO
For the season two finale of “Gossip Girl” on HBO Max, the show created their own version of the Met Gala, with the museum’s standout steps, the green shrubbery and the outfits. Among the dazzling looks, costume designer Eric Daman had character Julian Calloway (played by Jordan Alexander) wear an Oscar de la Renta minidress from the brand’s pre-spring 2023 collection. The dress consisted of a variety of crystals, which gave a sheer, glamorous look that coordinated directly with the real Met Gala theme for 2022: “Gilded Glamour.” Calloway’s dress was also the same one that Taylor Swift to the 2022 MTV VMAs.
“Swarm”
Nirine S. Brown playing Ni’Jah in Prime Video’s “Swarm.”
Chris Reel/Prime Video
The Prime Video series “Swarm,” which was released in March, opted to recreate one of the most viral moments surrounding the Met Gala in 2014, where the theme was “Charles James: Beyond Fashion.” According to fans on social media, the show is loosely based on events in Beyoncé’s life, including her 2014 elevator moment when a leaked security camera video showcased her sister Solange and her husband Jay-Z having what seemed like a heated exchange following a Met Gala after party. The series had actress Nirine S. Brown channel Beyoncé as the character Ni’Jah, seemingly watching her sister and husband argue in an elevator. In line with the theme that honored James, to the real 2014 Met Gala, Beyoncé wore a sheer black Givenchy dress with a birdcage headpiece, which made a nod to the signature structured aesthetic of the late designer.
