The Met Gala takes place every year, as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, with the first event taking place in 1948. The media attention that the event attracts has clearly grown massively over the years, especially now on social media. This year was especially significant, as due to Covid, the Gala could not take place in 2020.
Over the past few years, we have started to see influencers make their way onto the best-in-class guest list. From James Charles and Liza Koshy attending in 2019 to this year, the likes of Emma Chamberlain, Addison Rae, and Dixie D’Amelio were spotted walking the red carpet.
There has been some backlash and negative comments about influencers attending the Met Gala. The guest list famously invites the creme de la creme of A-list celebrities – from Rihanna to Beyonce and Jay Z, Jared Leto, J.Lo, the list goes on.
Does the Met Gala need to be marketed by influencers?
In short, the Met Gala and Anna Wintour, the event organiser since 1995, do not need to rely on influencer marketing to create hype around the event.
The event is timeless and will continue to attract an A-list guest attendance year on year. Influencers are not being invited because the event needs a refresh, what we are seeing is the evolution of celebrity and pop culture. In particular, Gen Z influencers are shaping mainstream fashion more than some people may wish to admit.
Influencers continue to receive Met Gala invites because they are believed to be deserving of their place because of the impact they have on popular culture, and the audiences they attract are invested in them. It will be interesting to look forward to 10 years’ time and see how many influencers are on the Met gala guest list. Who knows, there may even be another new wave of celebrities gracing the red carpet.
A social media buzz
Despite the backlash about the attendance of influencers, the Met Gala has a huge social media presence and continues to create a huge social buzz. In fact, Instagram even sponsored the event this year.
Also this year, for the first time ever, the Met Gala even introduced a meme correspondent. There have always been many meme-worthy moments and outfits at the event, and this year, influencer Saint Hoax, was in charge of creating meme-worthy Met Gala content. The introduction of a meme correspondent further shows how the organisers are aware of the online presence the gala attracts, and how engaged social media users and pop culture lovers are.
There is also a large YouTube buzz surrounding the Met Gala. As quickly as just a couple of hours after the guests have paraded their outfits, you will see videos emerging on YouTube from creators who are analysing the fashion from the event, with these videos racking up millions of views.
If you head to Vogue’s YouTube channel, you will see that the fashion publisher swiftly uploaded a video of Emma Chamberlain’s getting ready process – this video is already heading towards three million views.
So, if you take a look at the reception that the Met Gala got online, and the attention that the influencer guests gained, it seems like a no-brainer. The invite is open to all of those who are influential, whether that be in film and music, or on the internet.
