The Met Gala: A Preview

Ever heard of it? Tonight's the night

Pull back your hair in a low ponytail, powder it white, don a pair of black sunglasses, slip on a pair of leather gloves, find a cat and carry it everywhere. It’s that time of year, folks. The Met Gala. The annual celebration of fashion so far out of a normal person’s reach that you might as well try helping Elon Musk land on the moon. This year’s theme is Karl Lagerfeld, the long-standing designer for Chanel. One might assume that we’ll be seeing a lot of black boucle suits, shiny gold buttons and a smattering of gold chains. But this isn’t Bergdorf Goodman on a Wednesday afternoon. This is THE Met Gala, the true fashion event of the year — so big it makes the Oscars red (or champagne) carpet look like The Met Gala on Ozempic.

So what can we expect?

• Pearls, lots and lots of pearls — a la Chanel. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone showed up in just pearls (Billy Porter? Lady Gaga? Kim Kardashian?)

• Speaking of Kardashians, expect a gaggle of them to show up. After all, could Karl have been the lost Kardashian?

• A next generation sighting, perhaps North West or Blue Ivy?

• Young stars of the moment, like Halle Bailey (Zendaya who?) and anyone who was in either The Last of Us or Everything Everywhere All at Once

• Eric Adams, who never saw a party invitation he could refuse

• Dresses the Karl designed for Fendi, Chloe, Patou, Fendi and his namesake label as well as dresses by other designers paying tribute to those designs

• My commentary — here on Substack, some time tomorrow.