Here's What The 2024 Met Gala Theme Is And Why It's Maybe Related To Kim Kardashian

"The Garden of Time" is less cheerful than it sounds.

Hot Topic

🔥 Full coverage and conversation on the Met Gala

It's almost Met Gala Monday, baby: So it's time to explore what this year's theme actually means.

Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Let's start with the basics. The Met Gala is the primary fundraiser for the Museum's Costume Institute. As such, the Gala celebrates the opening of the Institute's annual exhibition. This year's exhibit is titled "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion."

Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

The exhibit has little to do with fairytales. It centers around 50 items from the Met's permanent collection that are too fragile to ever be worn again (the titular "Sleeping Beauties"). It was inspired by an 1877 silk satin ballgown from Charles Frederick Worth and will be structured in three zones of "Land, Sea, and Sky." Given the fragile nature of the items displayed, technology like AI and CGI will be used to showcase the garments.

Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

As the Met puts it, "Approximately 250 garments and accessories spanning four centuries will be on view, visually united by iconography related to nature, which will serve as a metaphor for the fragility and ephemerality of fashion and a vehicle to examine the cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal."

Hot Topic

Let's chat about all things Met Gala

See our Met Gala Discussions

It's interesting that an exhibit focusing on the conservation of delicate garments comes two years after one of the Met Gala's more controversial moments in recent years: when Kim Kardashian wore Marilyn Monroe's famous "Happy Birthday" dress in 2022. Some have made the connection, though the Met has obviously said zero on the topic.

Sean Zanni / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Now, the Met exhibit and the Gala's dress code are often used interchangeably, but that's not quite accurate. The dress code is "The Garden of Time." It's inspired by a J.G. Ballard short story of the same name, which follows a couple plucking glass-like flowers as an ominous mob approaches.

David Levenson / Getty Images

This is an overly simplified account of the story — you can find it online; it's a few pages long. 

As Vogue put it, “Boiled down, the dress code, as well as the exhibition, is about fleeting beauty.” So what does this mean for what people will wear?

Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

The most obvious interpretation of the dress code is the "garden" part. As Vogue emphasized, "Think melancholic florals (as moody florals aren’t moody enough)." As such, this 1889 Charles Frederick Worth cloak that's in the exhibition would fit the bill.

Heritage Images / Heritage Images via Getty Images

There are other motifs in Ballard's story — including the "time" part of "The Garden of Time." Wearing a cravat à la the story's protagonist would also be on theme. There are many creative ways to interpret the tale, which we shall hopefully see soon!

Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic, Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

The broader idea behind the story and the exhibition could lead some to interpret the theme as a chance to revisit and rethink iconic, fragile, and archival pieces for the carpet. An example of this in action is when Natalie Portman wore an updated version of Dior’s Junon gown.

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images

As such, this year's theme-judging will be a little tricky! But make sure to keep an eye out on May 6 for lots of Met Gala content on BuzzFeed.

Hot Topic

🔥 Full coverage and conversation on the Met Gala