The Met Gala, a charity event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is honoring Karl Lagerfeld with its newly announced theme for the 2023 event. On September 30th, 2022, one of Chanel’s most prominent ambassadors and collaborators, Pharrell Williams, announced that the theme would be Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. 

The Met Gala was first held in 1946 and takes place on the first Monday of May each year. The Met Gala has been run by Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, since 1995, and its purpose is to raise funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The invitation list changes each year, and it includes the most well-known achievers in music, fashion, and film, as well as other celebrities. The theme, which also changes yearly, determines the decorations for the event and how the invitees dress. Some of the most iconic looks of fashion were worn at this event over the years, including Blake Lively’s dress at the Met Gala in 2018 and Cher’s dress at the Met Gala in 1974, according to Vogue. People magazine states that the Metropolitan Museum of Art will also have an exhibit showcasing 150 of Lagerfeld’s best outfits, which will open after the gala.

Karl Lagerfeld was a German fashion designer who passed away in 2019. He acted as creative director for Chanel from 1983 until his death and did work at Chloé, which is a fashion company, so he is one of the most influential figures in fashion. He is admired by many, but the decision to honor him with the Met Gala theme has been criticized due to comments he allegedly made during his lifetime. The Cosmopolitan explains that Lagerfeld made many fatphobic comments toward other celebrities. He called the famous singer Adele “a little too fat” and Heidi Klum “too heavy”. Many people claim that he defended the sexual assault of models in his interview with the fashion magazine Numero when he stated, “If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model.” Lagerfeld also stated that he was fed up with the #MeToo Movement. A lead actress in the TV show “The Good Place,” Jameela Jamil, said that although Lagerfeld was a very talented designer, he used his platform in a hateful way, mainly toward women, and showed no remorse for the people he attacked up until the last few years of his life. 

Although Lagerfeld has received heavy criticism from celebrities since his death, many have come to his defense, including Cara Delevingne. According to The Independent, shortly after Lagerfeld died in 2019, Jameela Jamil expressed her negative opinion of him. This incited a negative response from Delevingne, who responded to Jamil by telling her to “stop bashing people for attention,” saying that Jamil clearly did not know Lagerfeld. 

The Met Gala’s 2023 theme has sparked controversy. The Met Gala is one of the largest events in the world of fashion, so many people see the honoring of a man with such a controversial legacy as unacceptable. There is no doubt that Lagerfeld had a significant impact in the world of fashion, but can we separate his achievements from his personality?