By Abbie Prues
The Met Gala, a prominent star-studded, iconic, highly anticipated yearly event in the fashion world and pop culture, has announced their theme for 2024: "The Garden of Time."
The theme, inspired by a short story written by J.G Ballard in 1962, describes a garden of “crystalline flowers with translucent leaves, gleaming glass-like stems and crystals at the heart of every bloom” (Vogue). To combat the garden from getting destroyed by a destructive mob, the owner of the garden must pluck a time-reversing flower from his garden until there are none left. The story includes themes of utopian fantasy, art, beauty and tragedy.
The exhibition of art itself, different from the dress-code theme of the gala, is entitled, "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." Originally, it was mistakenly confused as a rendition of the Disney classic, "Sleeping Beauty" for the theme, but it actually has an entirely different meaning. In reality, it stands as “the celebration of clothing and fashion so fragile that it can never be worn again” (Vogue). Look out for timeless, reawakened, sacred, delicate pieces. How will people tie the themes together on the carpet? Simply put, the overarching idea is fleeting, delicate beauty.
What we will likely see on the carpet in May is florals, but in a more specific and intentional way. We can predict dynamic, moody, exquisite floral arrangements that will illuminate the carpet. Light, airy, delicate pieces of tool, embroidering and silk are predicted as well. Anything with hints to nature, timeless beauty and unique femininity that ties into motifs of “The Garden of Time” and lost treasures of past fashion eras would surely allude to the theme, and we cannot wait to see.