FAIRYTALES have long woven magic with fabric. But this year’s Met Gala , the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York, took the connection between fantasy and fashion a step further. Themed around the museum’s “ Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion ” exhibition, the dress code focused not on opulent displays of nature’s bounty but a more complex reality: the natural world and the essence of time.
Inspired by J.G. Ballard’s short story, “ The Garden of Time ,” designers were invited to explore the intricate relationship between materials, their origins, and the fleeting nature of fashion trends.
The exhibition, which runs until September, provides an opportunity to reflect on the clash between artificial and natural materials in fashion. The reference to “sleeping beauties” suggests a useful context to consider how tangible, imperishable matter often sits alongside natural substances in fairytale worlds. This tension played out on the Met Gala red carpet, where some attendees embodied the classic elegance of fairytale princesses and Prince Charmings, while others channeled more sinister characters.
Dress and materials play a transformative role in fairytales. Who can forget the significance of clothing (and those glass slippers) to Cinderella’s fate? An encounter with Prince Charming only becomes available to her when her torn rags are discarded in favor of a sparkling ballgown. Scholar Maria Tatar suggests .
