Celebrities arrive at the Metropolitan Museum in New York tonight, the first Monday in May, for the world’s most spectacular fashion fundraiser.
Photographers will line the red carpet to photograph Hollywood stars, fashion icons and renowned designers as they attend the Met Gala, or Met Ball as it is colloquially known, in extravagant outfits inspired by the dystopian tale of JG Ballard, The Garden of Time. .
The Gala is the highlight of New York’s social calendar, often described as “fashion’s biggest night.”
However, there will be no royal seal of approval this year, unlike the notable occasion almost three decades ago when a newly divorced Diana caused an absolute sensation.
John Galliano, Dior’s new designer, said Diana had deliberately removed the inner bodice of the dress. “It was a reflection of how she already felt,” he said. ‘Released.’
Diana’s £10,000 midnight blue dress, trimmed in black lace and worn under a matching velvet coat, was the sensation of the night. Here she appears with magazine editor Liz Tilberis.
Fashion commentator Hilary Alexander described it as “the most important dress since Liz Hurley wore her Versace with safety pins.” The Daily Mail said it was more ‘Oh, Couture’ than ‘Haute Couture’
On December 9, 1996, four months after the divorce papers were signed and just eight months before her death, Diana attended the gala that opened a Christian Dior exhibition at the museum. She marked the 50th anniversary of the designer’s 1947 New Look.
She had been invited to the event by Bernard Arnault, director of Dior, and flew on the Concorde to attend the event.
Diana was photographed arriving with her close friend Liz Tilberis, the British editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar and chairwoman of the ball.
Diana’s £10,000 midnight blue dress, trimmed in black lace and worn under a matching velvet opera coat, evoked turn-of-the-century glamour.
It was also a fashion coup, as Diana was the first person to wear a dress by Dior’s new designer, enfant terrible John Galliano, from his long-awaited first haute couture show.
She paired it with her sapphire choker set in a triple row of pearls and her Lady Dior bag, originally called ‘Chouchou’, and renamed in her honour.
The then first lady, Madame Bernadette Chirac, had given her her first ‘Chouchou’ bag during a visit to Paris in 1995, and it became a firm favorite. She ordered it in blue the following year to “match her eyes.”
Galliano and his team traveled from Paris to London three times for fittings, with their last visit being on November 28, the designer’s 35th birthday. He arrived at Kensington Palace to discover that the Princess had prepared a cake and champagne.
But the dress provoked mixed feelings. Fashion editor Hilary Alexander described it as “the most important dress since Liz Hurley wore her Versace with safety pins.”
“The idea of wearing a petticoat in public is new,” she wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
‘We’ve seen actresses and stars wear underwear as outerwear, but for a princess to do so on a formal occasion is a different matter.
“It’s a very sensual dress, not too sexy, and it’s a far cry from the more formal outfits she usually chooses.
‘It represents a new type of royal clothing. By wearing this dress on such an important occasion, you also pay a long-awaited tribute to Galliano.’
However, fashion critic Brenda Polan was not a fan: ‘It wasn’t so much couture as Oh! Haute Couture,” she wrote in the Daily Mail.
“The problem, and there’s no delicate way to put it, is that it looked like she had accidentally gone out in her nightgown, which meant, of course, that she wasn’t wearing a bra.”
However, in a 2018 interview, Galliano revealed that it was Diana, who had chosen to be provocative, by removing her inner bra. “It was a reflection of how she felt and how she felt,” she told the Wall Street Journal magazine.
‘Released.’
Guests at New York’s party of the year included British American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, designers Calvin Klein and Christian Lacroix, models Linda Evangelists, Christy Turlington and Iman, and photographer Patrick Demarchelier.
Three thousand guests paid £150 for a ticket to the gala, while another 900 paid £650 for the gala dinner, hoping to catch a glimpse of the princess.
After drinking champagne and chatting with designers Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein and Bill Blass, Diana, seated between Tilberis and Galliano, dined on sea bass, veal and tarte tatin.
But she escaped before midnight and was taken in a limousine back to the luxurious Carlyle Hotel as the ball was set to begin, missing the furor on the dance floor as guests smashed glasses and snapped champagne.
Diana had been invited to the event by Bernard Arnault (right), director of Dior. From left to right: John Galliano, Liz Tilberis, Diana and Helene Mercier, Arnault’s wife
The event turned out to be a swan song for both Diana and Liz: the princess died in a car accident on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36. Tilberis died of ovarian cancer two years later, at the age of 51.
“It was a zoo and I guess maybe they didn’t want to put her through that,” said Mica Traynor, a fashion designer. But I didn’t feel like she was really here. I just wanted to see her dance once, but no luck.
“People just wanted to look at her,” added newcomer Crickett Richards. ‘They paid to see her and, for all intents and purposes, she didn’t show up. It is a pity. She is very beautiful. I think she could have tried a little harder.
However, Bianca Jagger said: “I don’t think he ever intended to stay long, but I know he had fun.” She looked wonderful.
Either way, the event turned out to be a swan song for both Diana and Liz: the princess died in a car accident on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36, while Tilberis died of ovarian cancer two years later. later, at the age of 51.
