In the run-up to the Met Gala, it is usually the outfit choice of the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna or some other mononymous pop icon that is the subject of pre-emptive intrigue and anticipation. But this year, the most speculated-about look was the one that would be worn by a very different kind of cultural figure: Lauren Sánchez Bezos, the 56-year-old wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
This sort of attention is inevitable when you and your multibillionaire tech bro husband dish out a rumoured $10m (£7.4m) to sponsor the biggest night in the fashion calendar. When, in advance of the event, protesters project slogans such as “If You Can Buy the Met Gala, You Can Pay More Taxes” and “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala” onto the Empire State Building. And when the same activist group reportedly places around 300 bottles of fake urine inside the Met Museum, nodding towards Amazon workers’ claims that they were forced to urinate in bottles rather than take bathroom breaks in order to meet targets (the company has denied these allegations).
