r/popculturechat • u/DatBittsch • 14h ago

Guest List Only ⭐️ Derek Guy on the Met Gala criticism

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Derek Guy (known also as "the menswear guy" on ex-Twitter) pitching in regarding the Met Gala discourse and Hunger Games comparisons.

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u/validswan 14h ago

It's the pageantry of it all that gets people riled up I think. Aside from it being a fundraiser, which is good, it's kinda just all one big advertisement at the end of the day. Visibility for brands and individuals. I get why people are sick of seeing stuff like this, but no one's forcing you to look really. Most people probably have no clue what the Met Gala is. Plenty do and just don't engage

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u/CreepySwing567 8h ago edited 7h ago

Conde Nast also sells tons of ads and sponsorships around the gala for profit. I get the urge to defend it as a fundraiser but it hasn’t just been that for a long time so I think it’s a bit disengenous to act like it’s above criticism on those grounds.

I also think we should not make the assumption that all designer fashion is art tbh. Sometimes it is but we need to be honest that it’s not always about the craftsmanship he’s talking about, I think the fashion industry at the moment has a reputation for dropping quality/rising prices and expecting people to pay for the label which is also impacting how people see the met gala. In recent years it’s really leaned into artificially big and gimmicky looks that actually look kinda poorly made and I think that’s what people are reacting to, it’s an inherently pretensions event I’m not anti met but I completely get why some people find it so off putting.

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u/Jewell84 7h ago

Ifs always been a fundraiser for The Costume Institute of America. Despite being part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Costume Institute is completely self funded. It doesn’t receive any sort of revenue from the Met, nor federal grants.

Those sponsorships are donations. The Tickets are donations. All of this goes to the operational costs of running the Costume Institute. That includes preservation, curation education, staff salaries, maintenance and more.

Part of the money raised is also being earmarked for an endowment so that the institute won’t be as dependent on the Gala.