Fashion’s biggest night of the year is just around the corner, and the Met Gala red carpet theme has finally been announced — along with superstars Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth as this year’s co-chairs.

Organizers announced last week that the official dress code for the event, which will take place on May 6, is “The Garden of Time.” The theme takes its title from a 1962 short story written by British author J. G. Ballard, set in a garden filled with translucent, time-manipulating flowers.

Ballard, who is closely associated with New Wave science fiction, often set his dystopian stories in eras of ecological apocalypse or rising dissenting technologies.

The Ballardian theme accompanies The Costume Institute’s exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” which will run at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 10 through Sept. 2. The showcase includes approximately 250 items and garments from the Met’s extensive archive, many of which are too fragile to be staged on mannequins. The most delicate historical pieces will instead appear flat in suspended glass coffins — like Princess Aurora in the fairytale “Sleeping Beauty,” if you will.

“It is very much an ode to nature and the emotional poetics of fashion,” said Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute’s Wendy Yu Curator in Charge. “One thing I hope this show will activate is that sensorial appreciation of fashion.” The year’s co-chairs — alongside Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour — include Met Gala mainstays and debuts. Hemsworth will make his first appearance at the event, while Zendaya will return for the first time in several years. Honorary chairs include Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson and TikTok CEO Chew Shouzi.

The complex, conceptual nature of this year’s dress code stands in contrast to last year’s commemorative nod to Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy. The Met Gala theme often vacillates between straightforward retrospectives and more artful, subjective prompts. One such fan favorite was the 2018 theme of “Heavenly Bodies,” which encouraged guests to dive deep into the rich, imagistic history of Catholicism.

This year, guests will have plenty of vivid reference points to interpret. In Ballard’s story, Count Axel and his wife are trapped in their walled garden as an angry mob amasses outside their gates. As its time-reversing blooms dwindle, both are aware of the fate that awaits them.(SD-Agencies)

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【半透明的】bàntòumíng de translucent transmitting and diffusing light so that objects beyond cannot be seen clearly

【减少】jiǎnshǎo dwindle become smaller in size or amount, or fewer in number

一年一度最盛大的时尚之夜即将到来，大都会博物馆慈善晚会（Met Gala）的红毯秀主题也终于揭晓 —— 超级巨星赞达亚、詹妮弗•洛佩兹、Bad Bunny 和克里斯•海姆斯沃斯将担任今年的联席主席。

主办方上周宣布，将于 5月6日举行的盛典以“时光花园”为着装主题。该主题源于英国作家巴拉德1962 年创作的短篇小说，故事发生的场景是一个花园，这里开满半透明的花朵、花朵的魔力能逆转时光。

巴拉德是“新浪潮”科幻小说的领军人物，他的反乌托邦故事具有现实意义，常常发生在生态灾难降临后或是反人类技术兴起的时代。

巴拉德式的主题与服装学院的展览 《沉睡美人：时尚觉醒》相得益彰：展览将于 5月10日至9月2日在大都会艺术博物馆举行，其中展示的约 250件服装和物品来自大都会博物馆的大量藏品，许多过于脆弱，无法在塑料模特身上展示。最最精致的历史珍藏将平躺在悬浮的玻璃棺材中，就像童话故事《睡美人》中的奥罗拉公主。

服装学院的Wendy Yu主策展人安德鲁•博尔顿说：“展览在很大程度上是对自然和时尚情感诗学的一首颂歌。希望这次展览能激活人们对时尚的感性认识。”

与Vogue杂志主编安娜•温图尔一起担任今年联席主席的既有Met Gala的常客也有首次亮相的新人。海姆斯沃斯将首次出席盛会，而赞达亚则是数年后首次回归。荣誉主席包括Loewe创意总监乔纳森•安德森和TikTok首席执行官周受资。

今年的着装主题兼具复杂性和概念性，和去年的“向卡尔•拉格斐的遗产致敬”形成了鲜明对比。Met Gala的主题经常在直白的回顾经典和更具艺术性、主观性的命题之间徘徊。2018 年的主题“天体”就是粉丝们的最爱之一，鼓励嘉宾深入挖掘天主教丰富而充满想象力的历史。

今年，嘉宾们可以参考大量生动的细节来诠释主题。在巴拉德的故事中，阿克塞尔伯爵和妻子被困在自家花园的围墙里，门外聚集了一群愤怒的暴徒。随着花园中能逆转时间的花朵日渐枯萎，两人意识到了等待他们的不测命运。

(Translated by Debra)