Hundreds of A-listers gathered Monday in New York for the annual Met Gala extravaganza, where they paraded around the carpeted steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in their best rendition of "gilded glamour." This year, the event—often dubbed the most prestigious night in fashion—managed to break all records and earned the museum $17.4 million.

The annual gala is a fundraising event for the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tickets to the invitation-only soirée reportedly cost upwards of $35,000, but don’t expect that price to include any perks —you’ll have to shell out another $20,000-30,000 for the luxury of a table.

Most celebs are invited to the event by fashion brands, who cover the cost of the ticket, but the guest list is a closely guarded secret. Usually, only the biggest names from music, film, fashion, and sports are invited. With only 400 invitations available, Vogue editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, who organizes the event, ensures that it stays exclusive.

A source familiar with the matter said that: “Anna [Wintour] is extremely restrictive on who can buy a ticket. Many people I know who are friends, who have the money to pay, have been turned down. Anna decides they can’t go. Period.”

Earnings from the event pay to keep the doors to the institute open and also help fund their annual blockbuster exhibits. This year the institute launched In America: An Anthology of Fashion which explores the roots of American fashion.

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The gala is traditionally held on the first Monday in May but took place in September last year due to the pandemic. The institute says that the two galas brought in a combined $33.7 million.

Last year, the event raised more than $16.4 million for the institute.

The extravaganza—first held in 1948—catered exclusively to members of New York's high society before Wintour took over running the event in 1995. She turned the gala into the catwalk for the rich and famous that we know it as today.

This year featured famous faces like Kim Kardashian, who showed up in a $5 million dress once owned by Marlyn Monroe, and Elon Musk, the world's richest man and the new owner of Twitter.

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Source: JustJared, Bloomberg