Well, that’s one way to pivot from the cratering of a John Galliano Met Gala. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute has announced its replacement theme for next year’s Gala, and it is… very, very ordinary. Or sorry, “ExtraOrdinary.” 

Specifically, it’ll be “extraOrdinary: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday,” an exhibition that will apparently entail looking at basic clothing staples through a fashion-centric lens. That instantly brings to mind something like Matthieu Blazy’s instantly iconic first look from his Bottega Veneta collection — jeans and a white tank top that were actually trompe-l'oeil “fabric” printed onto leather — which, yes, will be included. 

According to the official press release, which was quietly sent out on November 5 without the usual fanfare reserved for the event, the show’s more than 200 pieces will also feature bits from Marc Jacobs’s 1990s Perry Ellis "grunge" collection and Junya Watanabe’s take on a biker jacket.

“The exhibition invites us to discover how much imagination the everyday can hold, and how looking again might change what we value and care for,” notes curator Andrew Bolton.

Sure, but also, chat… is this a recession indicator? It definitely signals a creative recession. On paper, nothing is less risk-averse than “ordinary,” and this might’ve made sense upon a time, during the peak of quiet luxury. But no matter the theme, Galliano’s eccentric shadow was always going to hang over the Gala. And no designer is more allergic to basic than he is. (See his piratecore Zara collection for proof.)

It’s a confounding choice, made all the more unintentionally funny by the Democrats just pulling off a “bluenami” sweep of Congress this week. Woke Era is so back, baby, and it’s almost deliciously disastrous that the first Met Gala of this bold, blue new era will be… a parade of ultrawealthy people dressing capital-O Ordinary. 

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