Evan Agostini/Invision / AP
Lady Gaga attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2019, in New York.
Monday, May 6, 2019 | 3:06 p.m.
NEW YORK — The Met Gala kicked off Monday at its campiest best, with Lady Gaga working the pink carpet to its fullest, in long golden eyelashes and a huge fuchsia dress, then peeling off layer after layer until she was down to a bra, panties and fishnet stockings.
Brandon Maxwell, who created the reveal, helped Gaga navigate the stairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as she posed with several helpers carrying large umbrellas. Maxwell undressed her further, revealing a black strapless asymmetrical ballgown underneath with a huge side bustle. Then she undressed again, to reveal a pink dress reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," walking up and down the carpet again.
But she wasn't done. Moments later, she undressed again to pose in a glittering bra and panties set, with huge platform shoes, then lay down on the carpet, and strutted once more before going inside.
Gaga is a hard act to follow but Serena Williams, one of the hosts along with Gaga, did her best in a neon yellow flowing gown adorned with leaves, with Nike sneakers on her feet.
Anna Wintour, who masterminds the gala every year, wore a light pink cape with loose ostrich feathers over a matching gown adorned in a flower sequin design. She smiled and waved without her usual sunglasses on her face and told waiting reporters this year's theme is anything goes.
"I hope they have a lot of fun," she said of her A-list guests. "The more crazy the better."
The worlds of fashion, film, music and sports converge at the massive gala every year, a fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute.
For this, the 71st of the fundraising galas, "Camp: Notes on Fashion" is the theme, inspired by a seminal 1964 essay by Susan Sontag in which she describes the phenomenon as something that shan't be talked about: "To talk about Camp is therefore to betray it." The theme is the basis for the Costume Institute's spring exhibition.
