Anna Wintour gave a rare interview ahead of May 6th's annual Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gala (aka the Met Gala) to share a look behind the biggest night in fashion.
The 74-year-old Vogue stalwart sat down with Today Show anchor Jenna Bush Hager to share all that there was to know ahead of the big night, which takes place every year on the first Monday of May.
The Global Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast broke down the madness (or lack thereof) that goes into preparing for the Gala, who the employees of Vogue were most excited to see, and what you won't be seeing inside the costume institute event anytime soon…
The surprising banned items
There are a few golden rules to abide by for the night, with the most famous being the number one edict – no cell phones allowed.
"It's often wonderful to hear after dinner, people say, 'Oh, we had the most wonderful conversations.' And so that's the idea – that life can exist without a picture on your cell phone," she mentioned.
However, she mentioned three other surprising items that didn't make the cut, at least in the kitchen, those being chives, onions, and garlic. When Jenna asked if that was true, Anna responded: "Those are three things I'm not particularly fond of. And so yes. That's true."
The night's A-list co-chairs
Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Zendaya, and Chris Hemsworth have been appointed the co-chair for 2024's Gala, and in her interview, Anna gushed over each of them, specifically citing talent like Zendaya and Chris.
"Zendaya, you know, a couple of years when she couldn't come, I felt gloom hung over the internet," the fashion icon said of the Challengers star. "Like a cloud of sad emojis because everyone always looks forward to what she's gonna wear. And I know she will not disappoint."
She mentioned, however, that the Furiosa star was probably the chair who garnered the most buzz. "Who would be a better prince than Chris Hemsworth to wake up the sleeping beauties?"
"And I can only talk for the corridors of Vogue, but the level of excitement when his name was mentioned rose several degrees. And I dare to guess that it might be the same here at the Met, too."
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The madness before the beauty
Anna did confess, though, that since everything is so meticulously planned out, sometimes years in advance, there isn't really much chaos in the hours preceding the event.
"We are able to sort of enjoy these days before the madness starts," she said. "If we're not relatively calm at this point, we're in big, big trouble." She called the days leading up to the event "relatively quiet," after hosting a dinner for the co-chairs on Sunday night in NYC.
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How this year's Met Gala broke her "cardinal rule"
In her interview, Anna mentioned that by deviating from the custom of uniformity between the exhibition and the theme, she broke her "cardinal rule" this year.
"We came up with the title 'Sleeping Beauties.' It's wonderful, it's poetic, it's romantic, but actually it could be many, many things," she admitted. Anna mused that the differing titles may have caused some "mixed signals," adding: "I fear we have unleashed a lot of confusion out there for which I deeply apologize."