The first Met Gala was held in 1948 as a fundraiser for the Costume Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or The Met for short). The gala was always a grand affair, but it was definitely more intimate in the beginning. A ticket would have cost you around $50 dollars and would have bought you a seat at a nice supper and attendance at the “Party of the Year”. Overtime the event started to adopt some of the traits that we know it for today, like the flashy costumes, the intricate themed dress codes and the large paparazzi presence. Altogether, it has earned millions of dollars and is an extremely fruitful financial resource. And while we know all those in attendance, we know that they likely attended some sort of formal dinner and the content of the exhibition, most of the event is kept hidden from the public eye to maintain exclusivity.
Another tool that is used to maintain exclusivity is the cost. To attend the Met Gala, you must both be on the guest list and be able to cover the cost of a ticket. As of 2026, the cost of an individual ticket to the Met Gala is $100,000($25,000 more than last year!), while a table for multiple guests can run you around $350,000. Of course, you and I aren’t exactly the ones looking to buy tickets, but those celebrities in attendance aren’t doing so either. Usually, what happens is a fashion house will buy its own table and sponsor invites. For example Sabrina Carpenter, who went with Dior and was dressed by them. So, a good percent of the people you see walking down the runway had their spot and look paid for them. Of course, all of that money goes somewhere. Over this past decade, the gala has raised somewhere around $160 million dollars. And this year, according to Vogue they earned a record breaking $42 million, $11 million more than the year prior, which does feel a bit like overkill when you realize that the operating budget for the Costume Institute is $5 million a year.
While an extravagant party set in the middle of New York City, where every day people are struggling to make ends meet, is always controversial, this year was especially polarizing. Amazon founder and billionaire Jeffery Bezos, along with his wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos, were dubbed “honorary chairs” for their financial contribution as lead sponsors to the event. After this announcement, the signs reading “Boycott Bezos Met Gala” started popping up around New York. And just outside the doors of the Met, another red carpet was being held called “The Ball Without Billionaires,” where both current and previous workers from Amazon, The Washington Post (both companies which Bezos owns) and Whole Foods were in attendance. The ball served as a protest where labor unions and small independent designer worked together to clearly convey their message “Labor is art.” This comes after Bezos was outed by Amazon employees for their poor working conditions. It also tells the story of the underpaid and mistreated garment workers in New York who are necessary for an event like the Met Gala to succeed.
Whenever having a conversation about the Met Gala The Hunger Games. But this year, more than ever, it seems especially poignant. If the purpose of the Met Gala is the preservation of fashion and of the arts, then why do we have someone serving as co-chair who not only doesn’t contribute to the arts but has also actively harmed culture? With gutting The Washington Post and his connection to the Trump administration, he doesn’t seem all too concerned with conservation. And when millions of his seemingly endless supply of money are used to buy the title “co-chair” rather than paying your employes, things start to look very dystopian.