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‘Really dystopian’: why was there no mention of Gaza at the Met Gala?

Courage of celebrities called into question as key fashion event passes devoid of political statement

It “felt really dystopian”, said Venetia La Manna, a campaigner for fair fashion who posted a video on Instagram this week in which she pointed out the absurdity: “As our favourite celebrities took to the red carpet and voluntarily lost the ability to breath and move, Israel seized control of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing, halting the flow of aid, leaving Palestinians nowhere safe to go. It was not a surprise to the fashion industry activist Orsola de Castro that no one arrived in “an amazing column couture gown in the colours of the Palestinian flag”, but it did, she says, “consolidate this horrendous understanding that [there is] some kind of dystopian fear of speaking out over something which is so blatant”. While it was met with confusion, guests were tasked with paying homage to The Garden of Time, a title that takes its name from a 1962 short story by JG Ballard, a tale of crumbling hierarchies in which a count and countess are overrun by an angry mob.

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