19 Moments That Prove the Met Gala Is Just a Date Night for Fashion’s Elite
From relationship debuts to displays of affection, we look back at the Met Gala moments that made us believe in love
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: ASAP Rocky and Rihanna attend The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/WireImage)
It’s a wildly held belief that the Met Gala is no longer a means to purely flex your sartorial prowess.
Despite being a fundraising gala for the costume institute at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, fashion’s night of nights has taken on a life of its own and become an ostentatious display of Hollywood’s inextricable link with fashion.
Because bourgeoning style stars don’t go to a debutant ball, they go to the Met Gala.
However, despite the annual event’s regalia and pompous ceremony, the red carpet is not just a platform to don a statement-making and avant-garde ensemble that will no doubt cement you in fashion’s history book, it also serves as pseudo date night to a very exclusive few.
Indeed, if you’re elite enough for both yourself and your partner to score an invite to the fashion-forward affair, there’s no doubt you’re going to take every opportunity to revel in having the world’s eyes on you alone for the few minutes you ascend the Met’s steps.
When it comes to the first Monday in May, the name of the game has become garnering publicity for yourself through your sartorial choices, but it doesn’t hurt to pack on a slight bout of PDA.
For some couples, like the 2022 Met Gala co-chairs Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, this meant adhering to that year’s compulsory dress code “Gilded Glamour” and reflect the context of America’s Gilded Age in a courteous display of courtship.
For others, like Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid back in 2016, it’s a moment test the waters of a new relationship in Hollywood’s most saturated arena.
And let us not forget the viral Met Gala debut from Kim Kardashian and Kayne West back in 2013 who fueled the discourse around attendee politics before the concept of who should and shouldn’t go was even a thing.
While some of these couples relationship may not have withstood the test of time, the Met Gala continues to prove to be an important pop cultural medium, acting as an artifact of what was going on in each respective year.
So, from baby bumps to literal tounge touches (you have Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker to thanks for that one), keep scrolling for the GRAZIA‘s safe-for-work guide to the most memorable couple moments in Met Gala history.
19 Memorable Couple Moments in Met Gala History
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02: Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds attend The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02: (Exclusive Coverage) Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber attend The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/MG22/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02: (L-R) Lily Allen and David Harbour attend The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02: (L-R) Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner attend The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02: (L-R) Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian attend The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz attend The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue )NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber attend The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/MG21/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: ASAP Rocky kisses Rihanna at the 2021 Met Gala benefit “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 06: Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen attend The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 07: Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 07: Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/WireImage)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 01: Selena Gomez and the Weeknd attend the “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between” Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 02: Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid attend the ‘Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology’ Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 04: George Clooney (L) and Amal Clooney attend the “China: Through The Looking Glass” Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 05: Jay-Z and Beyonce attend the “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 05: David Beckham (L) and Victoria Beckham attend the “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MAY 06: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the Costume Institute Gala for the “PUNK: Chaos to Couture” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for The Huffington Post)NEW YORK, NY – CIRCA 1995: Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley attend the Met Gala circa 1995 in New York City. (Photo by PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images)David Bowie and Iman attend the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala – Theatre de la Mode at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on December 3, 1990. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
