This year’s theme – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination – comes with a myriad of complications when it comes to What To Wear. “I’m sure you’ll see a pope or two,” she says of the diehard dress code followers who push the boundaries each year. Madonna, Katy Perry and Rihanna will, of course, take on Catholic tropes literally, while others will gently nod to the Vatican with red, white and gold colour schemes, heavy embroidery and cross jewellery. But, she cogitates, it’s more complicated than picking out papal tiaras, there’s a hierarchy involved before outfit moodboarding can even begin.
Saltzman starts to receive calls from designers a week after the Met Gala has been and gone, quizzing her on “who’s cool?”; “who will be interesting in a year’s time?”; “who will be a good fit for the brand?” It takes months and several offers before a designer and a celebrity are matched, as agents dance around potential contracts and financial agreements, while keeping friends of each brand happy. Once the deed is done, then the fun starts.
“A designer has to think about who else is sat at their table,” Saltzman explains. “So only one person can wear white, only one person can wear red, etc.” Then they have to consider whether the brand wants to be associated with the theme at all. Many, this year, will want to remain neutral on the subject of religion.
It the job of stylists, like Saltzman, to piece the jigsaw together and make sure her clients feel confident on the red carpet, and the brands are happy with the reception of the dress. She has a deft tactic that always works. “It’s important to me to have beautiful gowns on the women I work with, because photographs live longer than the gala,” she says. “People don’t remember the theme, they just remember the dress. So, it’s my job to make sure the women look amazing, and then adapt the dress to the theme when I can.”
She admires the creativity and the real "fashion moments" on the red carpet, but it all boils down to the person, and not the theme. “The Katy Perrys of the world are performers and have had stage costumes throughout their careers, so they know what the attention feels like. Others won’t feel confident in fantastical dresses because that fashion just doesn’t relate to them."
For those women, the politics of the event can make “the fun become unfun,” and the rigmarole of jumping through hoops hard work. One of Saltzman’s favourite Met moments, she recalls, was Stella McCartney with her gang of girls - Cara Delevingne, Rihanna, Kate Bosworth and Reese Witherspoon - in 2014. “It felt authentic, fresh, and true to Stella, but true to the individual women. A real tribe having fun,” she remembers.
That buzz word, "fun", is perhaps not one you would immediately question when it comes to the gala, but when unpicking it, there's more behind the gloss and glamour than meets the eye.
“A designer has to think about who else is sat at their table,” Saltzman explains. “So only one person can wear white, only one person can wear red, etc.” Then they have to consider whether the brand wants to be associated with the theme at all. Many, this year, will want to remain neutral on the subject of religion.
It the job of stylists, like Saltzman, to piece the jigsaw together and make sure her clients feel confident on the red carpet, and the brands are happy with the reception of the dress. She has a deft tactic that always works. “It’s important to me to have beautiful gowns on the women I work with, because photographs live longer than the gala,” she says. “People don’t remember the theme, they just remember the dress. So, it’s my job to make sure the women look amazing, and then adapt the dress to the theme when I can.”
She admires the creativity and the real "fashion moments" on the red carpet, but it all boils down to the person, and not the theme. “The Katy Perrys of the world are performers and have had stage costumes throughout their careers, so they know what the attention feels like. Others won’t feel confident in fantastical dresses because that fashion just doesn’t relate to them."
For those women, the politics of the event can make “the fun become unfun,” and the rigmarole of jumping through hoops hard work. One of Saltzman’s favourite Met moments, she recalls, was Stella McCartney with her gang of girls - Cara Delevingne, Rihanna, Kate Bosworth and Reese Witherspoon - in 2014. “It felt authentic, fresh, and true to Stella, but true to the individual women. A real tribe having fun,” she remembers.
That buzz word, "fun", is perhaps not one you would immediately question when it comes to the gala, but when unpicking it, there's more behind the gloss and glamour than meets the eye.
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