Anna Wintour’s Strict Met Gala Rules And Demands Revealed In Documentary
The Met Gala, also called the Met Ball, is one of the most prestigious fashion events held annually for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York. It is an exclusive fashion event attended by celebrities and big names in the fashion industry.
Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour has been overseeing the event since 1995, including the benefit committee and guest list. In a new documentary entitled The First Monday in May, that is scheduled to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 13, the events leading up to the 2015 Met Gala entitled “China: Through The Looking Glass” were documented. The film includes personalities such as Rihanna, John Galliano, Wong Kar Wai, Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier, and many more.
With the filming of the documentary, all of the drama behind-the-scenes leading up to the fashion event are revealed. Anna Wintour is very secretive when it comes to planning the exclusive fashion event, and the documentary gives a glimpse of what insiders go through months before the Met Gala. In an interview with The New York Post, contributing editor for Vogue, Plum Sykes, said, “[Wintour] doesn’t want anyone to know what she’s planning or what she’s up to until the minute they walk down that red carpet and through the door.”
Despite Anna Wintour agreeing to film the documentary, there were times that she wanted to quit, said director Andrew Rossi.
“There were a lot of protocols to follow. There were certain times when Anna would say, ‘I’m done, I don’t want to film anymore.'”
Anna Wintour is known to have a cutthroat attitude and always says her opinions out loud. This personality of hers was also seen in the 2009 documentary The September Issue, wherein the filmmakers followed Anna Wintour and her staff through the process of producing the September, 2007, issue of Vogue.
Now, a former employee is revealing some of the no-no’s at the Met Gala, rules created by Anna Wintour. According to the employee, as reported by The Daily Mail, parsley is banned at the Met Gala as it can easily be stuck on the teeth. Bruschetta, a popular choice for an appetizer in formal events, is also banned as it can land on the guests’ clothes. Onions are also banned for an obvious reason: bad breath.
No garlic, no parsley, NO cellphones: Anna Wintour’s secret rules for the Met Ball revealed https://t.co/PQET8Oqi34 pic.twitter.com/QyxogdqHUc
— Daily Mail Femail (@Femail) April 3, 2016
In the trailer of The First Monday in May, Wintour can be seen going over the guest list and seating arrangement for the Met Gala. When she came upon a name, which was blurred in the clip, Wintour asks, “I thought he wasn’t coming?”
“I know, but then he decided he wanted to come,” answered her commander-in-chief, Sylvana Durrett.
Anna responded, “Okay, can he not be on his cellphone the entire time then?”
Durrett shared that Wintour is a traditionalist.
“Anna is sort of an old-school traditionalist. She likes a dinner party where people are actually speaking to each other. We aren’t sitting over people’s shoulders, but if it’s an obvious thing we might gently remind them.”
In addition to the banned food items, Anna Wintour is also said to carefully pick out the food to be served at the Met Gala, with sources saying that for Wintour, the food should look as good as it tastes.
“The level of detail is shocking,” says Rossi. To add to that, Wintour keeps files of all Vogue events to make sure that seating arrangements are not repeated.
There’s no doubt that this year’s Met Gala preparations will be as hectic as last year’s. With a glimpse into what happens behind-the-scenes to produce the grand event, attendees are sure to appreciate it more, but is it worth the reported $25,000 cost of a ticket? You decide.
The First Monday in May is the opening film for the Tribeca Film Festival on April 13, and it will be released in theaters on April 15.
[Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP]
