AP’s Beatrice Dupuy has covered many a fashion show and exhibit — this is also her second year covering the Met Gala carpet on-site. Read her take on what it’s like to be at the scene.
The Met Gala is a night of fashion unlike any other. For the journalists working behind the scenes, we get a close look at the glamour — but it’s not as opulent as it seems.
While we come dressed to the nines, we have to take some other things into account. For one, the standing. The night involves standing for hours on the carpet, waiting for the gala attendees to make their grand entrance, and waiting well into the night for fashionably late entrances, even as other guests begin to leave. That means great consideration goes into comfortable yet stylish shoes and packing a bag filled with snacks, water and multiple phone chargers.
The press are ushered into the museum for check-in by 3 p.m. and are taken into a waiting area as we prep for the carpet. Gala guests typically begin arriving around 5:30 p.m. Once we are set up in our spots on the carpet, the waiting begins. As soon as the first celebrity makes their way up the steps, a buzz of excitement fills the air and the adrenaline kicks in. Celebrities soon roll in nonstop. Some take their time posing for photos and answering press questions; others rush up the steps to get in and avoid the limelight. On the sidelines, journalists on either side of the carpet shout for their attention to get a quote or a viral TikTok moment. There’s a sense of camaraderie among the press as we all look to see what star is making their way up the steps and — most importantly — what they are wearing.
While the outfits may wow us, the little moments are the most refreshing — like music star Billie Eilish letting a journalist feel the weight of her large, braided ponytail or Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner getting their dress trains tangled together as they wait for their Vogue interview.
Toward the end of the night, as the delirium sets in while waiting another hour for Rihanna, you start to think nothing can surprise you even after seeing Jared Leto in a furry catsuit.
But then a cheer rises from the bottom of the steps, and everyone thinks Rihanna has finally arrived … only to be duped by a cockroach scurrying up the steps.
While Los Angeles may have all its big-time award shows, New York has the Met Gala and, for us, that’s enough.
