Decoding the problematic Karl Lagerfeld Met Gala 2023 theme

The Met Gala, a fashion staple on the calendars of Hollywood's who's who happened yesterday and the hottest topic since has been the iconic theme.

This year, the theme of the Met Gala was not a quirky concept or campy theme. Rather, the gala zeroed in on iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld who passed away in 2019 at the age of 85. Lagerfeld is well known for his iconic designs that he has done for massive fashion mainstays such as Chanel, Fendi, Chloé as well as for his larger-than-life personality and controversial takes. 

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Known for his iconic sunglasses and ruffed-collar shirt, the Met Gala reportedly wanted to emphasise Lagerfeld’s output and creativity, as well as his status as an original multi-hyphenate designer that was influential enough to inspire industry heavyweights such as Kanye West and Virgil Abloh.

It also wanted to acknowledge that Lagerfeld had a history of saying problematic things that ruffled feathers. In his time, Lagerfeld notoriously took issue with the #MeToo movement. After claiming in an interview that he was "fed up" with it, he noted that what shocked him the most was that stars took "20 years to remember what happened".

In the same interview, which was conducted in 2018 with European fashion magazine Numéro, he took issue with new guidelines to ensure the safety of models on set. He noted that if models did not want their pants pulled about, that they should "join a nunnery".

When it came to looking at the theme of the Met Gala, curator Andrew Bolton told The Business of Fashion Podcast that they wanted to focus on Lagerfeld's work rather than his words as that was the most "authentic" and "tangible" thing about him.

However, not everybody chose to look at it that way, shortly after Lagerfeld was announced as the theme in October last year, actor Jameela Jamil took to Instagram to share some of his most problematic comments. 

She wrote: "This man... was indeed, supremely talented, but used his platform is such a distinctly hateful way, mostly towards women, so repeatedly and up until the last years of his life, showing no remorse, offering no atonement, no apology, no help to groups he attacked... there was no explanation for his cruel outbursts."

"Why is this who we celebrate when there are so many amazing designers out there who aren't bigoted white men? What happened to everyone's principles and 'advocacy'? You don't get to stand for justice in these areas, and then attend the celebration of someone who reveled in his own public disdain for marginalized people," she continued. 

Earlier this year, the HF Twitter Met Gala (HFTMG), an international group of fashion fans who typically help organise programming around the iconic gala tweeted that they would not be celebrating this year’s Met gala as "our values don’t align with the selection of Karl Lagerfeld as the theme".

In a Time interview following the announcement, the HFTMG elaborated that many of them were part of the communities that Lagerfeld targeted in his "hateful speech".

They also noted that it is not that they are not acknowledging his legacy or denying it but that part of his legacy lies in the "harmful things that he’s said" and that they do not want to partake in celebrating that. 

That said, the Met Gala, a charity event, saw a full turnout with stars such as Penélope Cruz, Rihanna, the Kardashians, Dua Lipa, Roger Federer and Jared Leto showing up in their own renditions of Lagerfeld's iconic works.

While it has not been revealed how much was raised this year, the gala typically collects millions with last year's earnings coming up to record US$17.4 million. 

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