Lauren Sánchez Bezos appeared all smiles alongside her friend Anna Wintour in New York today to unveil the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Costume Art exhibit ahead of the Met Gala this evening.
Sánchez Bezos, whose sponsorship of this year’s star-studded fashion event and accompanying exhibit with her billionaire husband Jeff Bezos has proved controversial, was welcomed to the stage at a press conference Monday morning by Wintour, the gala’s chair since 1995, who credited Sánchez Bezos as the only person in the room who could “wear a bias cut dress while banking a helicopter.”
Introducing the exhibit to a group of select press, including The Independent, Wintour called Sánchez Bezos a “force for joy” and “generosity,” saying: “She and her husband, Jeff, have shown with this event that they genuinely, genuinely care about giving back.”
Wintour added that Sánchez Bezos did far more than lending her name to the event; she attended meetings “full of enthusiasm and good ideas.”
“Lauren is willing to shake up society with risk-taking and an upbeat spirit that is as boundless as her energy,” the Condé Nast executive said.
During her two-minute address, Sánchez Bezos spoke about the Bezos Earth Fund, which she said was backing scientists to reimagine sustainable fabric for the future of the fashion industry.
“The future of that art deserves investment,” she told the crowd. “We’re reimagining what fabric can be — sustainable silk grown in labs, it is happening.”
She returned Wintour’s compliments, saying: “No one has done more to champion fashion as an art form… thank you, Anna.”
The Bezos’s involvement in this year’s event has led to a boycott campaign from the political activist group Everyone Hates Elon, which has distributed flyers across New York City that read “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala” in the lead-up to the ball. The sponsorship has primarily sparked backlash due to accusations that the Amazon mogul and his wife are buying up influence in popular culture, media and politics.
Wintour has previously attempted to quell the backlash over the couple’s involvement. She told CNN in November: “I think Lauren is going to be a wonderful asset to the museum and to the event. I’m very grateful for her incredible generosity, and she’s a great lover of costume and obviously of fashion, so we’re thrilled she’s part of the night.”
The Bezos have begun to work closely with Vogue’s publisher Condé Nast in recent years. An industry rumor that surfaced last year suggested that the couple was trying to acquire the magazine publisher, though Sánchez Bezos has previously denied this. A 2025 Vogue digital cover starring Sánchez Bezos in her wedding gown was also viewed by commentators as a gesture from Wintour.
The dress code for tonight’s gala is “Fashion is Art,” which explores the “centrality of the dressed body” through subversive interpretations of the human form in the Met’s extensive collection. Guests are encouraged to think of their bodies as a blank canvas.
The accompanying exhibit that opens 10 May is curated through the thematic body types: “the naked body,” “classic body,” “pregnant body, “ageing body and “disabled body,” featuring sculptural and sheer designs from established and upcoming designers.
A standout ensemble was from Australian fashion designer Michaela Stark, who uses plus-sized mannequins and deconstructed corsets to morph the female form into unconventional shapes and silhouettes. Her work is seen as a protest of the traditional containment of the female form.
The “aging body” section includes an oversized gray hoodie dress by VETEMENTS, emblazoned with the phrase: “I’M RETIRED. (This is as dressed up as I get.)”
Each garment at the exhibit is paired with an ancient artefact that represents the historical depictions of the female body, such as statues of Greek goddesses on pedestals and medieval busts.
Every mannequin, created by sculptor Samar Hejazi, features a flat reflective surface instead of a head, for visitors to consider their own visage in its reflection.
The blockbuster exhibition is the most body-positive and inclusive show that the museum has attempted. The section on “the disabled body” demonstrates how fashion houses like Burberry have adapted clothes for disability activist Sinéad Burke.
The section also features a Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren “Mickey and Minnie” dress, paired with an ancient Egyptian statue of a dancing dwarf.
In one ensemble, a mannequin based on the Paralympian athlete Aimee Mullins wears a pair of wooden, gladiatorial Alexander McQueen boots, which are actually prosthetic limbs. The outfit is paired with a 1965 sculpture, “The Amputee,” by John Gutmann.
As the Met Gala gets underway on Monday evening, the focus will shift from the morning’s unveiling to the red carpet, where many of the ideas explored in the Costume Art exhibition are expected to play out in real time.
The show opens to the public on May 10, running through January 2027.