What Is the Purpose of the Met Gala? Inside the Reason Behind Fashion’s Biggest Night

Hollywood has many "big" nights, from the Grammys to the Oscars to a highly anticipated movie premiere. But the Met Gala is the one night a year that focuses on the famous and the fashionable.

Celebrities and those among fashion's elite attend a costume gala each first Monday of May, where the red carpet is the ultimate runway.

The Met Gala is a fashionista's rite of passage, as anyone even remotely interested in fashion attends, tries to get invited to, or spends years watching it from afar. And while there have been many memorable (and even more mid/not-so-memorable) looks, those who look forward to the Met every year may not know why it happens. So, what is the purpose of the Met Gala? Let's find out!

The Met Gala may be a night of glitz and glamour, but there's a deeper message behind why the event exists. The Met, or The Met Ball, is the Costume Institute Benefit. The gala is a fundraiser dedicated to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, formally named The Anna Wintour Costume Center.

Publicist Eleanor Lambert created the fundraising efforts to encourage donations from New York's high society. According to the Met's website, every year includes people who appreciate and champion the arts.

"Every year, The Met Gala brings together cultural figures and style icons from across a wide array of fields to celebrate and support art and fashion," The Met’s Marina Kellen French, Director and Chief Executive Officer, said while discussing the event's 2025 theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.

Although many might think the Met Gala's purpose is to give the celebs another reason to play dress up, there's a bigger purpose behind some of the event's most audacious themes. The Met Gala is also the beginning of the museum's Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit. The dress code depends on the exhibition's theme, and guests must dress accordingly.

The Met Gala typically sticks to its traditions, from its theme to when fans expect the event. The first Monday in May has long been called "Met Monday." However, the event wasn't always set to take place in May.

According to The Independent, the Met Gala has seen some changes over the years and has only had its standing Monday date since the early 2000s. The event was held in April between 2001 and 2004. Before then, the event was held between November and December.

The fall dates were changed after the museum's curator, Richard Martin, died in November 1999, and an exhibit of the work of French fashion designer Coco Chanel was canceled, per The New York Times. The Costume Institute allegedly could not have the retrospective ready in time for the scheduled date.

The date of the Met Gala was moved to the first Monday in May in 2004 and hasn't changed since. The only time the Met didn't go as scheduled was when it was canceled altogether in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned the following year in 2021.