\n<\/p>\n
In 2007, event designer Raul \u00c1vila<\/a> embarked on his very first Met Gala<\/a>. Tasked with transforming the Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a> for the hundreds of guests who attend the annual fundraiser for the Costume Institute, \u00c1vila set a high standard for himself from the very beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my first year, and I wanted to do something completely different,\u201d \u00c1vila previously said in an episode<\/a> of The Run-Through With Vogue.<\/em> \u201cI wanted to do something that no one\u2019s seen before.\u201d That year, the theme was \u201cPoiret: King of Fashion,\u201d in celebration of the early 20th-century designer Paul Poiret. So for the Great Hall installation\u2014a major showpiece that guests see upon entering\u2014\u00c1vila built a Poiret-inspired gilded birdcage that was about 20 feet high, with two live peacocks inside. (During preparations for the night, one of them flew away, leading to a chaotic scene as people chased her to get her back in the cage.) Since then, year after year, \u00c1vila has raised the bar with his transcendent designs.<\/p>\n In 2019, for \u201cCamp: Notes on Fashion,\u201d<\/a> he created a 25-foot-tall flamingo centerpiece comprised of 30,000 flowers. In 2018, he built a recreation of a papal crown, made out of roses, for \u201cHeavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.\u201d<\/a> In 2013, \u00c1vila and his team flew in a chandelier from London and rigged it with aluminum \u201crazor blades\u201d for that year\u2019s punk-themed bash.<\/p>\n In 2024, \u00c1vila and the Vogue<\/em> special events team turn the Temple of Dendur into an enchanted forest. Last year\u2019s event\u2014\u201cSuperfine: Tailoring Black Style\u201d\u2014took inspiration from famed artist Cy Gavin\u2019s narcissus flower motif<\/a>, which was a nod to \u201cself-recognition,\u201d and sparked a floating tower of narcissus flowers as the Great Hall centerpiece.<\/p>\n The theme for the 2026 Met Gala is \u201cCostume Art,\u201d and the event will take place on Monday, May 4. (And here\u2019s how to watch Vogue<\/em>\u2019s exclusive livestream<\/a>). Until then, take a scroll through the Met Gala interiors throughout the years, from 2005\u2019s Chanel-themed night to the most recent event in 2025.<\/p>\n Superfine: Tailoring Black Style<\/p>\n Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion<\/p>\n<\/div>\n