MET Gala: Where Fashion Meets Interior Design on a Monumental Scale

Every year in early May, the iconic steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York transform into a global stage for one of the most anticipated cultural events of the year: the MET Gala. But beyond the star-studded red carpet, the real magic lies inside — where fashion and interior design merge to create an immersive world tailored to the theme of the night.

Raúl Àvila: The Mastermind Behind the MET’s Interior Fantasies

Since 2007, celebrated event designer Raúl Àvila has been responsible for translating each theme into physical form — designing jaw-dropping interiors that make the museum feel more like an art installation than a gala dinner. From grand floral sculptures to atmospheric lighting, custom-built furniture, and thematic decor, Àvila blurs the lines between fashion and interior architecture in ways that feel theatrical, surreal, and unforgettable.

As Elle Decor once put it, Àvila doesn’t just decorate — he sets the stage for fashion to come alive.

MET Gala: Where Fashion Meets Interior Design on a Monumental Scale — Source: Website

When Interiors Tell the Same Story as the Clothes

Let’s take a look back at how Àvila has brought MET Gala themes to life through immersive set design:

2024 – Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion
The museum’s Great Hall became a dreamlike forest, with a massive enchanted tree as its centerpiece. Projected foliage, soft green lighting, and textured walls turned the space into a living fairytale — blurring the line between nature and couture.
2023 – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty
Inspired by the designer’s own Parisian apartments, Àvila reimagined the interior with vintage books, gilded chandeliers, hand-painted lace tableware, and soft neutral tones. A refined, intimate atmosphere echoed Lagerfeld’s meticulous aesthetic.
2019 – Camp: Notes on Fashion
One of the most dramatic interiors to date: a 25-foot flamingo made of 30,000 pink flowers stood in the center of the room, surrounded by pink carpets, feather lamps, bamboo tableware and hot-pink napkins. Maximalism at its finest.
2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination
Àvila suspended an enormous papal tiara sculpture — made of 80,000 roses — above the dining room. Gothic candelabras and velvet runners gave the room the air of a sacred cathedral, paying homage to religious opulence.
2016 – Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology
A 65-foot spiral of white roses — some real, some synthetic — represented the intersection of handcraft and machine. The futuristic floral helix was both an art piece and a commentary on design evolution.
2015 – China: Through the Looking Glass
Guests walked through bamboo arches and giant peonies before entering a hall anchored by a towering blue-and-white porcelain-inspired floral vase. A celebration of scale, history, and Eastern aesthetics.

2025: Superfine – A Celebration of Black Sartorial Style

This year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” is the first since 2003 to focus exclusively on menswear. It honors the cultural significance of Black dandyism and style as a form of identity. Inside the museum, Àvila chose narcissus flowers and warm golden lighting to evoke elegance, resilience, and power. Even the carpet was printed with floral motifs, creating a seamless visual transition from outside to in.

Where Fashion Becomes a Living Space

What makes the MET Gala so extraordinary isn’t just what guests wear — it’s the way the entire environment is dressed to match. Through the lens of interior design, the event becomes a three-dimensional mood board where fashion narratives are lived, not just observed.

Whether it’s a surreal pink bird, a forest of dreams, or a cathedral of roses, the MET Gala proves that fashion doesn’t stop at the body — it extends into the space around it.