On Monday, May 5, it is the (in)famous ‘First Monday of May’, where all of your favorite - and let us be honest, least favorite - celebrities showcase their most beautiful, avantgarde and sometimes thematically questionable outfits, and walk the stairs of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (‘the Met’), attending the yearly Met Gala.
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What is the Met Gala?
The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, was originally a simple “midnight supper”, but has now morphed into one of the biggest events in fashion and popular culture at large.
It is the annual charity gala, benefiting the Met’s Costume Institute, organized by fashion magazine Vogue and spearheaded by its Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour. It is most notably attended by fashion’s biggest designers and the A-list celebrities they dress.
And with Hollywood stars and beautiful dresses come millions of dollars spent.
Here are the key price tags of the Met Gala.
Have $75,000 to Spare?
First, let us look at the tickets.
In 2024, individual tickets for the gala were $75,000, way up from last year’s $50,000, with 10-person tables starting at $350,000.
Now, even if you have that kind of pocket change lying around, it does not ensure a seat at “fashion’s biggest night”. Because host Anna Wintour is personally in charge of who may and may not be extended an invitation, dictating the guest list - even for brands that have spent hundreds of thousands to be represented.
Nearly a Billion Dollars Generated in Media Impact Value
According to Women’s Wear Daily, in 2023, the gala managed to generate $995 million in Media Impact Value (MIV), a metric that measures the impact of placements and mentions across media and social channels.
The event generated tens of millions of dollars in MIV for fashion brands such as Gucci, Fendi, and Valentino, and even managed a truly mind-blowing MIV of $110.7 million for Chanel.
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While these numbers are big, they may not be surprising considering the social media presence of the event. In 2023, Vogue noted that its livestream of the event had generated 53 million views, and Vogue’s social media channels saw 12.3 billion impressions from the hashtag ‘#metgala’ alone.
Millions Spent Throwing the Event
While the price of throwing the Met Gala is not known exactly, it reportedly cost 3.5 million to host the event in 2016.
Adjusting for inflation that places the costs of throwing the event around $4.5 million today.
… But Also, Millions Raised
However, the event, which fairly consistently breaks its own record, does however manage to raise a quite sizable amount of money for the Costume Institute.
In 2023, the event raised almost $22 million, once again, breaking its own record.