Here’s Why People Are Angry About 2023’s Met Gala Theme, Karl Lagerfeld

The Met Gala is almost here. The biggest event in the fashion calendar sees VIP upon VIP flock to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York City. Each year, the prestigious night comes with a theme. Most recently, gilded glamour took centre stage with the concepts ‘In America: The Lexicon of Fashion’ and ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’, transforming the red carpet into a sea of shiny gold and opulent jewels. 

Each Met Gala isn’t without its controversy, though. The lack of BIPOC designers has been an ongoing issue, which is only accentuated by the recent American themes; there are mixed opinions about wearing historical artefacts, and performative activism continues to spark questions of authenticity. 

Audiences at home seem to have become more critical and skeptical about the extravagant displays of wealth and fame that we used to laud over without a second thought. It makes sense — a globally watched event with millions of eyeballs often acts as a boiling pot for systemic issues to rise to the surface: racism, classism, gender inequality and fatphobia, to name a few. This upcoming Met Gala is no exception, with outrage surfacing before the actual event. 

The theme of this year’s Met Gala is Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. The late fashion designer will be honoured in the Met’s spring 2023 Costume Institute exhibition. This will be the Met's third designer-based theme, after Alexander McQueen in 2011 and Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garçons, in 2017.

Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of The Met, said, “Karl Lagerfeld was one of the most captivating, prolific and recognisable forces in fashion and culture, known as much for his extraordinary designs and tireless creative output as for his legendary persona. This immersive exhibition will unpack his singular artistic practice, inviting the public to experience an essential part of Lagerfeld’s boundless imagination and passion for innovation.”

Over his 65 years in fashion, working with houses such as Chanel, Fendi and Chloé, Lagerfeld built quite the reputation. Not only did he make waves in changing the course of fashion with his innovative designs and theatrical flourishes, but his less-than-savoury opinions on issues spanning sexual assault, race and size tarnished his image.

"This man... was indeed, supremely talented, but used his platform is such a distinctly hateful way, mostly towards women, so repeatedly and up until the last years of his life, showing no remorse, offering no atonement, no apology, no help to groups he attacked... there was no explanation for his cruel outbursts," Jameela Jamil said on Instagram.

"Sorry, but no. This isn't the 90s. We didn't fight all this shit just to throw it all away because some white guy made some pretty clothes for people's skinny faves... come on now."

Lagerfeld was outspoken about his belief that runway models should be sample-size models, meaning that they shouldn't be over a size Australian six. "No one wants to see curvy women," he told Focus in 2009. He dubbed supermodel Heidi Klum "too heavy" and said that Adele was "a little too fat".

He defended fashion's obsession with thin women, calling fatness "dangerous and very bad for the health". When asked about Chanel's obligation to represent "slightly healthier models" as opposed to "very thin models," Lagerfeld brushed off the question and labelled it as a "bore" and "ridiculous" before touting the dangers of obesity.

Lagerfeld famously disapproved of the #MeToo movement. In 2018, a year before his death, he said, "If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model! Join a nunnery, there’ll always be a place for you in the convent."

“What shocks me most in all of this are the starlets who have taken 20 years to remember what happened. Not to mention the fact there are no prosecution witnesses," he said.

Lagerfeld also allegedly sent flowers to former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn after he was accused of sexual assault. "They all do it in the political world. They get horny from politics, from power. And he had unbelievable charms. He is really charming. He’s fun, he’s great. He’s a sweet guy — as long as you’re not a woman," Lagerfeld said.

As a gay man himself, Lagerfeld held contradicting and stifling thoughts about the LGBTQIA+ community.

Back in 2010, he told Vice that he was against the idea of same-sex marriage. "I’m against it for a very simple reason: In the '60s they all said we had the right to the difference. And now, suddenly, they want a bourgeois life," he said.

"For me it’s difficult to imagine — one of the papas at work and the other at home with the baby. How would that be for the baby? I don’t know. I see more lesbians married with babies than I see boys married with babies. And I also believe more in the relationship between mother and child than in that between father and child," he said.

The Met Gala, aka the Costume Institute Benefit, will fall on May 1, 2023. The Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty exhibition will be on display at The Met Fifth Avenue in the Tisch Gallery from May 5 to July 16, 2023.