Following suit from other events cancelled worldwide due to the Coronavirus (including Coachella), the Met Gala has now officially been postponed indefinitely. It was due to take place on Monday 4th May.
This comes after the Met closed down last week, due to two employees displaying symptoms of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also advised all Americans to not attend gatherings of more than 50 people over the next eight weeks.
Many celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Ashley Graham and Sarah Hyland, have also started practicing self isolation and social distancing. Actors Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Idris Elba have also been tested positive for COVID-19, though their lives aren't thought to be at risk.
Many designers have also cancelled upcoming fashion shows, including Ralph Lauren, Chanel and Prada.
This year the theme, About Time: Fashion and Duration, marks the Met’s 150th anniversary, and will be partly inspired by Virginia Woolf and the theories of the early-20th-century French philosopher Henri Bergson.
Anna Wintour, who is chairwoman for the gala, wrote today on Vogue online, 'One day that will not arrive on schedule will be the opening of the Costume Institute’s exhibition, About Time. Due to the unavoidable and responsible decision by the Metropolitan Museum to close its doors, About Time, and the opening night gala, will not take place on the date scheduled. In the meantime, we will give you a preview of this extraordinary exhibition in our forthcoming May issue.'
