At the 2021 Met Gala, the category is Fourth of July realness. Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Naomi Osaka, and Amanda Gorman will co-chair the event, which features the dress code “American Independence,” according to Vogue. The next generation of Americans (or Japanese Americans, in Osaka’s case) will be represented by the four award-winning co-chairs, each known for their own unique fashion statements. “Chalamet, Eilish, Osaka, and Gorman have all developed a distinct visual language for their public personas, one that is informed by the legacy of iconic fashion made in the U.S.A.,” Vogue gushes. The old guard is represented by honorary chairs Tom Ford, Adam Mosseri, and Anna Wintour. After being postponed in 2020 and 2021, The Met Ball will now be hosted on September 13, celebrating the opening of the Costume Institute’s exhibition, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” Part two of the exhibition, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” will open in 2022, with its very own Met Ball scheduled for the first Monday in May.
“For a gala that’s known for its timely dress codes, American Independence feels particularly meaningful,” Vogue says. “After an isolating and challenging year, we are celebrating a newfound sense of freedom: to gather, to travel, and to get utterly dressed to the nines — or better yet, into the double digits.” The fashion magazine anticipates “anything-goes-gowns and dash of something star-spangled.” After a year of late stimulus checks, over 500,000 (preventable) deaths due to COVID-19, and protests against police violence, Vogue wants YOU to be proud to be an American.