The Superbowl of style a.k.a. the 2023 Met Gala is officially upon us. Fashion tycoon and event chairperson Anna Wintour previously announced that the night would be themed after the legacy of Karl Lagerfeld, the revered designer largely credited for making houses like Chanel, Fendi, and Chloe what they are today.
Though, while many enthusiasts would look to Karl as a visionary and icon, some are up in arms about honoring him given his history of problematic remarks and views. The team behind High Fashion Twitter Met Gala, a social media account that regularly documents the high-brow affair, recently pulled their support from this year's edition.
"We will not be celebrating this year’s Met Gala as our values don’t align with the selection of Karl Lagerfeld as the theme," they wrote.
On TikTok, The Associated Press got to speak with British actress Jameela Jamil, who opened up about why she will not be attending nor supporting the event either. "I think it was a disappointing display of a double standard in our industry as to who gets away with really appalling behavior and who doesn't," she stated.
The aforementioned "appalling behavior" pertains to Karl's previous statements that discriminate fat people, people of color, and women in general.
In 2012, he was quoted describing singer Adele as "a little too fat," countering her looks and vocal chops. Vox records him telling German magazine Focus that "no one wants to see curvy women," after discovering that another publication decided to forego shooting conventionally attractive models in favor of "real bodies."
In 2018, he also lambasted the #MeToo movement, which seeked to call out acts of sexual violence occuring to women, in defense of a stylist who was accused of such actions. In an interview, he said: "I read somewhere that now you must ask a model if she is comfortable with posing. It’s simply too much; from now on, as a designer, you can’t do anything."
"It’s unbelievable. If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model! Join a nunnery, there’ll always be a place for you in the convent. They’re recruiting even!"
On top of these were cases of xenophobia when he expressed that refugees seeking asylum in Germany, his home country, were "an affront to Holocaust victims."
The designer passed away in 2019, leaving behind a fashion legacy and a history of "problematic" statements.
With all that being said, what do you think about this year's Met Gala theme?
This story originally appeared on Preview.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.
