Yahoo Finance $52,000 a ticket: Met Gala by the numbers
It's the pinnacle of celebrity fashion, with some wearing multi-million dollar outfits.
It’s that time of year again when designers show off their incredible designs adorning some of the world’s biggest celebrities - it’s the Met Gala.
Hosted by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, alongside some celebrity guest hosts, the Met Gala is attended by a select group of just 500.
This year’s theme is ‘Karl Largerfield: A line of beauty’ paying homage to the late designer who worked at fashion houses like Chanel, Fendi, Chloe and Balmain.
How much does it cost to attend the Met Gala?
Just because you receive an invitation does not mean you don’t have to pay to get in. Tickets are more than $52,000 (US$32,000).
Many celebrities who attend don’t pay for their own ticket. Instead, the entry cost and costumes are bankrolled by major fashion houses.
In exchange, the fashion house receives the exposure, and the goodwill of having contributed to the fundraising.
However, tickets didn’t used to be so expensive. The first Met Gala was in 1948 and came about when publicist Eleanor Lambert decided a party would be a great way to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Tickets to the inaugural event cost around $68 (US$50) - that would be the equivalent of $945 today.
What was the most expensive Met Gala look?
Alongside the ticket, a whole lot of money goes into making celebrities look the part. And it may come as no surprise the most expensive Met Gala look of all time came from Kim Kardashian.
Kardashian rocked Marilyn Monroe’s actual dress at last years’ Met Gala. Monroe originally wore the custom gown when she sang happy birthday to US president John F. Kennedy in 1962 at a gala held at Madison Square Garden.
The iconic dress sold at auction in 2016 for $7.2 million (US$4.8 million).
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