Why is 2023's Met Gala theme so contentious?

Karl Lagerfeld, the subject of this year’s Met Gala, is undeniably a superstar of the world of high fashion.

The late German designer transformed the Chanel fashion house from old fashioned to uber-desirable, worked his magic at Fendi and Chloé, and was lauded worldwide for transforming traditional runway shows into theatrical displays, truly making clothing into art.

However, despite the positive parts of his legacy, Lagerfeld has also gone down in history as one of the most controversial and outspoken people in all of fashion history.

While the Met Gala, the annual event hosted by American Vogue editor Anna Wintour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on the first Monday of every May, is always one of the biggest events in fashion, its theme for 2023 - Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty - has attracted criticism and even seen a number of boycotts. Here's why. 

Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 at the age of 85, referred to himself as a “big mouth” and was famed alongside his talent for his controversial takes on subjects including fatphobia, ‘ugly’ people, migrants, the #MeToo movement and gay men who want to adopt children, always without apology.

While New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman heralded his outspoken nature, writing soon after Lagerfeld’s death that he “offended people right and left, making as much of an art out of the cutting aside as the perfectly cut double-face gown. He judged and knew he would be judged himself, but he didn’t care. Rather, he embraced it”, others think his opinions were anything but artful.

Around 600 celebrities, including Anna Wintour’s co-chairs Dua Lipa, Michaela Coel, Penelope Cruz and Roger Federer, will take to the Met’s Grand Staircase for the gala this year. 

However,