1981
The Temple of Dendur during Diana Vreeland’s 10th annual Costume Institute costume exhibit ball in December 1981.
1984
C.Z. Guest and Count Vega del Ren attend the Costume Institute gala in December 1984.
1984
Costume Institute gala decor.
1988
Decor during the 1988 Costume Institute gala.
1990
The annual Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 1990.
1991
An evening performance at the 1991 Metropolitan Gala. At the time, the event didn’t have a theme, nor was there an accompanying exhibition.
1997
The opening gala for an exhibit honoring Gianni Versace in December 1997.
2006
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute gala in 2006.
2006
More decor from the 2006 Costume Institute gala.
2007
The 2007 Costume Institute gala honored designer Paul Poiret ahead of the opening of the ‘Poiret: King of Fashion’ exhibit.
2007
Jean-Hughes de Chatillon and Raul Avila decorated the space.
2007
The 2007 gala.
2009
The 2009 theme was «The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion» with chair Marc Jacobs and co-chairs, Anna Wintour, Kate Moss, and Justin Timberlake.
2011
The 2011 theme was Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, with chairs François-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek and co-chairs, Anna Wintour, Colin Firth, and Stella McCartney.
2012
The Met’s entrance featured bold uplights and lined trees for the 2012 Costume Institute Gala, themed Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.
2013
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2013 Costume Institute Gala. The theme was PUNK: Chaos to Couture.
2013
Decor included an American flag made entirely of flowers.
2021
The September 2021 Met Gala, themed Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion. Co-chairs included Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman, and Naomi Osaka.
2021
A look inside the Temple of Dendur during the 2021 gala.
2022
A view of table settings at the May 2022 gala, themed In America: An Anthology of Fashion.
Rachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publication’s feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 16 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.
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