The First Monday In May

The Met Gala is one of the premier social events of the season. It's also the primary fund-raiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, as well as the launch of their annual fashion exhibit.

The First Monday In May gives us a behind-the-scenes glance at the lead up to this event, and the creation of the 2015's China: Through The Looking Glass exhibition. Here we see both chief curator Andrew Bolton, and former Vogue head-honcho Anna Wintour, as they 'make it work'.

The First Monday In May casts a wide net, but it does so by necessity. There are a lot of differing subjects touched on here, due to the wide influence such an event has.  It is not just fashion; but art, politics, culture, commerce, and history that all fall under aspects of this expression. It is the clash of petty bureaucracies arguing for display space, the ego of celebrities clamouring for exposure, and the pride of nations as they dictate how they are to be portrayed. The breadth of scope is staggering, all filtered through this lens of fashion.

In some ways this is a movie-length version of the “cerulean” speech from The Devil Wears Prada,  a sobering reminder of fashion's power. Given that Wintour is the mould for Streep's Miranda Priestly, that's strangely appropriate.  We're used to documentaries showing us inside the industry and seeing the pressures on designers to stage a show, but rarely do we see how fashion can shape cultural identity, or become high art.

There is an organic flow to this presentation, with the growth in scale rising from an almost chronological approach to the subject. Rossi carefully takes us behind the scenes looking at the personal aspirations of Bolton and telescoping out from there. It may skim certain details, but it strikes the right balance of giving the audience enough information to work with before moving on to the next level.

Of course this is aided by the fashion, both from the exhibition and the red carpet. Just because this documentary has an appeal beyond the fashionista, doesn't mean that they are neglected. Indeed they are treated to a stunning feast for the eyes, from a multitude of designers, as well as numerous interviews from luminaries such as Gaultier and Lagerfeld.

An interesting insight into the intersection of high fashion, high art and high society.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine