That the Met Gala represents the triumph of fashion experimentation is now common knowledge. Every year, stars and celebrities who have been privileged to be invited by the influential and redoubtable Anna Wintour parade the red carpet in stunning gowns that reflect the year’s theme, often made especially for the occasion.
Exactly ten years ago, in 2016, one of the most iconic moments in the Met’s recent history was the appearance of Claire Danes, the iconic actress of the 1990s, who has remained in the collective imagination for being Romeo + Juliet’s Juliet alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and for her role as Carrie Mathison in the series Homeland, which earned her numerous awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes. For the occasion, Danes wore a custom-made gown that glowed in the dark: the dress was made of custom French organza woven with fiber optics and powered by 30 mini battery packs sewn into the inner structure of the dress. The creation, designed by designer Zac Posen, took more than 500 hours of work and portrayed a classic style pattern: a sleeveless bodice fitted at the waist that then opened into a wide, dramatic silhouette with a train, evoking a princely aesthetic, but with a contemporary and, above all, technological twist. Indeed, the official theme of the evening was “Manus x Machina: fashion in the age of technology,” and all the dresses reflected this vision, albeit, in my opinion, somewhat loosely. None, in fact, really integrated technology into the very structure of the dress as Zac Posen did: many merely evoked it through silhouettes with silver or metallic tones, more symbolic than truly innovative.
Just this evening this year’s Met Gala, dedicated to the theme “Fashion is Art,” will take shape. Who knows if in 2026, also accomplice to the historical moment in which we live, the Met will still be able to surprise us with out-of-the-ordinary solutions and authentic “wow” effects from a stylistic point of view.
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