Here we are again at Anna Wintour’s annual first Monday in May fundraiser where the word fashion-tainment comes into glorious technicolour. This year’s theme fell easier on the eye than previous incarnations — no Jared Leto as cat — although there were scattered animalistic nods — see Lana del Ray’s McQueen Hoof boots for one. The exhibition — which will run at The Costume Institute at New York’s Met Museum — is entitled Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion — showcases the abundance of fashion treasure from the museum’s own archive.
However for the night itself, Wintour issued a dress code edict of The Garden of Time. On the surface, many quips surrounding “florals for spring?” the iconic, much-memed line from her alter-ego Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. And yet. The title comes via a J. G. Ballard short story, in which a count and his wife stave off an attack from the proletariat by throwing flowers from their garden at them. Destroying the earth to save oneself? A compelling analysis of the fashion industry by anyone’s standard.
