Ford spoke about the Met Gala and some of Perry's 'costumes' in a new interview with 'Time.'
Tom Ford isn't too thrilled with the evolution of the Met Gala. In a new interview with Time, the fashion designer said the ball has turned into a bit of a "costume party."
"The only thing about the Met that I wish hadn’t happened is that it’s turned into a costume party," Ford said. "That used to just be very chic people wearing very beautiful clothes going to an exhibition about the 18th century," he shared before throwing shade at Katy Perry -- who, in recent years, has donned an array of costumes to the gala, including her chandelier outfit, which she wore to 2019's "Camp: Notes on Fashion" themed event -- before changing into a hamburger costume later that night.
"You didn’t have to look like the 18th century, you didn’t have to dress like a hamburger, you didn’t have to arrive in a van where you were standing up because you couldn’t sit down because you wore a chandelier," Ford continued.
While Ford is definitely here for more fashion and less costumes, he's still serving as an honorary co-chair of this year's Met Gala, alongside Adam Mosseri and Anna Wintour. Regina King, Blake Lively Ryan Reynolds and Lin-Manuel Miranda, meanwhile, will serve as the evening’s co-chairs.
ET spoke to Anna Wintour biographer Amy Odell, about her new book, Anna: The Biography, where she addressed Ford's criticism.
"One of the biggest criticisms at the Met Gala, in the fashion world particularly, is that it’s become Halloween. That it's become a costume party," Odell began. "Examples that are often cited, are dressing like a chandelier and a hamburger, both of which were worn by Katy Perry."
She continued, "Tom Ford, one of the biggest names in fashion in the world and certainly the top designer in American fashion, said he misses the old days of the Met Gala, when you would just go wearing a beautiful, elegant dress and you didn't have to dress like a chandelier, like a hamburger. He told me if someone wants me to dress them, 'I'll say what's your favorite color? What do you love? and I'll make them a beautiful dress,' but he doesn't want to make costumes."
Odell said Ford isn't the only one who shares that opinion, adding that the late André Leon Tally too thought some of the looks were too costume-y.
"To be clear, Tom Ford is not the only person with the criticism that the Met Gala is too much like Halloween," Odell said. "André Leon Tally, I spoke with at length with before he died, before the book, and he also said the same, and he specifically thought that Lady Gaga's red carpet fashion performance, where she stripped down from one outfit to another -- she had 5 outfits in 2019 for the Camp gala -- he thought that was way too much."
Wintour on the other hand, is all about the over-the-top moments.
"Anna Wintour, however, as I report in the book, she loves the over-the-top looks," she said. "One of her close friends to me said, 'That is the English part of her.' Anna grew up in London. She's half British, and she loves a dress up party."
Taking place May 2 at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, this year's gala will accompany the second part of the Costume Institute's exhibition, "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," with the theme "Gilded Glamour and White Tie."
To see all the all the best looks from fashion's biggest night, be sure to check back with ETonline on Monday.
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