the ball

Oprah Winfrey and Patrick Robinson to Co-chair the Next Met Gala

It’s a good thing the Gap stopped losing money, because now they can spend a bunch of it on sponsoring the Costume Institute’s next exhibit at the Met and Anna Wintour’s annual gala to celebrate it. Gap creative director Patrick Robinson will co-chair the event, taking place May 3, 2010, with Anna and the always luminous Oprah Winfrey. This year’s co-chairs included Justin Timberlake, Marc Jacobs, and Kate Moss, who ushered in an exhibit about models as muses. But the next exhibit is “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity.” It will explore “how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation.” It sounds neat and educational, but the real kicker is that the clothes on exhibit are coming from Brooklyn.

Roughly 75 outfits, ranging from high fashion to haute couture, from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection were transferred to the Met in January and will be on display there from May 5 through August 15. Many haven’t been on view to the public in over 30 years. The collection includes pieces designed by Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, Madame Grès, Charles James, Jeanne Lanvin, Edward Molyneux, Paul Poiret, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Madeleine Vionnet, among others.

So Gap is going high fashion. Anna is continuing her work with outer-borough organizations. And Oprah is in the middle of it all! The only thing that could make the next Met Gala better would be if Kanye West showed up with Amber Rose and spoke or behaved in a ridiculous manner. And considering he’s faux interning with Robinson, there’s a pretty good chance of that. Maybe Patrick can dress him up so he is to the 2010 gala what Madonna was to the 2009 gala.

Oprah Winfrey and Patrick Robinson to Co-chair the Next Met Gala