The Met Gala Effect

The annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met Gala) was in honor of Karl Lagerfeld. What I had intended to do was talk about how revolutionary his designs were and how some of the looks at the Met Gala challenged cultural norms but plans have changed. I've found out recently that Karl Lagerfeld wasn't the person everyone idolized him to be. Karl Lagerfeld was an amazing designer and also racist, fatphobic, islamophobic, and misogynistic; his thoughts and beliefs contributed to the misrepresentation of what the fashion industry should be. The fashion industry is enigmatic and drawing yet it contributes to harming the self-esteem of teenage girls, the poor mental health of models giving them body dysmorphia along with feeling the need to starve themselves. Many industries and spaces are toxic because any field of work contains its power dynamics and struggles however fashion has benefited and progressed on the backs of women. Trials and tribulations have been trusted upon these women because of figures like Karl Lagerfeld. Karl Lagerfeld should be exposed, not honored. Now I'm not one to cancel people or deny anyone's support. You admire what you admire and I do believe in separating someone from the craft, however, it comes to a point where we aren't just admiring what someone has created we start to validate their inexcusable actions. I also think platforms are a privilege and to use them to promote hate, discrimination, and negativity is harmful to audiences and consumers. Karl Lagerfeld has used his voice to say “No one wants to see curvy women,”, “You’ve got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly”, “Coco Chanel wasn’t ugly enough to be a feminist, “I read somewhere that now you must ask a model if she is comfortable with posing. It’s simply too much; from now on, as a designer, you can’t do anything… It’s unbelievable. If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model! Join a nunnery, there’ll always be a place for you in the convent. They’re even recruiting!” 

All I'm saying is you're entitled to participate in whatever you like but do so for the right reasons while also being aware of what you're promoting. What starts happening is people blindly following bigotry without being educated. Now some Met Gala looks I thought were worth looking at are below (click to enlarge).