If ever a Met Gala seemed primed to clash with its political moment, it was the 2024 Met.
On the one hand, there was the event: the most opulent, extravagant, expensive party of the year, where a single ticket cost a whopping $75,000 — 50 percent more than last year’s ticket and more than $15,000 more than the average American salary.
On the other hand, there was a city roiled by student protests over the war in Gaza and rived by the country’s first criminal trial of a former president, and a sponsor (Condé Nast) in a fight with its employees over their union.
Even the evening’s dress code seemed to acknowledge the dichotomy: “The Garden of Time,” the title of a J.G.
Ballard short story about an aristocratic couple isolated in their mansion as an unruly mob draws ever closer, brandishing sticks and tools and a threat to their way of life.
Persons:
Condé Nast, Ballard, “, ” Andrew Bolton
Organizations:
Institute
Locations:
Gaza