Here comes Karl.
Vogue revealed Friday that the 2023 Met Gala theme will pay tribute to the late Karl Lagerfeld, nearly four years after his death from pancreatic cancer at the age of 85.
The exhibition, titled “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, will explore the illustrious designer’s career, which spanned from 1954 to 2019 at multiple high-fashion brands, including Balmain, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel and his own eponymous line. .
In addition to being heavily involved in the 2015 Chanel-themed event, Lagerfeld was a regular at the Met Gala over the years, being close friends with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and one of the most acclaimed names in the world. industry.
“Karl never tire of telling me fashion doesn’t belong in a museum,” Andrew Bolton, Costume Institute curator Wendy Yu, told Vogue.
“When we worked on the Chanel show together, he was incredibly generous in what he lent, but he was completely uninterested in the exhibition itself! He would say, ‘Fashion is not art – fashion belongs on the street, on women’s bodies, on men’s bodies. .’”
In this vein, Bolton said he will not be collecting a traditional retrospective for the museum exhibition for which the gala is celebrating, but rather will focus on Lagerfeld’s penchant for sketches and drawings. All 150 selected looks are accompanied by their original sketches.
Chanel will serve as the “main sponsor” of the exhibition, while “great support” will be given by Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld the fashion brand and Condé Nast will “add additional funding,” according to Vogue.
It is not yet known who will host the upcoming event, although Lagerfeld has been particularly close with Naomi Campbell, Kim Kardashian, Kristen Stewart, Penelope Cruz, Diane Kruger, 2017 Met Gala host Pharrell Williams, 2022 Met Gala host Blake Lively, Cara Delevingne, who celebrated her Cara Loves Karl line in Paris earlier this week, and more.
The star-studded red carpet event will take place on May 1, 2023, and the accompanying exhibit will be on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 5 to July 16.