Within Our Lifetime, a Palestinian-led community organization in New York City, marched through Central Park on Monday evening toward the museum and, according to their tweets, stationed a block away at 82nd and Madison.
Now, for the hypocrisy of it all: The Costume Institute’s 2025 spring exhibition is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which explores “the role of sartorial style in forming Black identities, focusing on the emergence, significance, and proliferation of the Black dandy.” So, this year’s gala was, in essence, a celebration of the many contributions of Black designers and creatives to fashion. However, Condé Nast’s union set the record straight on how those at the helm of the event actually treat the Black labor force behind the scenes.
“The #metgala isn’t Superfine and dandy for the Condé Nast employees who are required to work overtime without fair pay—or covering for their colleagues who have been laid off,” the union captioned an Instagram post of a graphic that reads: “This year’s Met Gala is celebrating Black contributions to fashion, but back at the office, layoffs disproportionately affected the company’s POC employees.”
According to the graphic, just 33% of employees at Condé Nast are BIPOC, yet they make up almost half of the employees who were laid off in 2024. Are we shocked? Certainly not. Just last year, the union threatened to strike during the week of the Gala if contract negotiations continued to move “at a glacial pace.” Ultimately, an agreement was reached.
In March 2022, hundreds of employees at Condé Nast—which includes Vogue, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, and GQ, among others—announced they were forming a union, collectively noting that “prestige doesn’t pay the bills.” But it wasn’t until September 2022 (nearly six months after the union made headlines and after many public calls) that the mass media company finally formally acknowledged the Condé Nast Union. It then took another five months for management to join them at the table. Currently, the union counts 36 Vogue employees among its ranks, with around 550 members in total—many of whom play a role in the Met Gala, from production to social media. The issues of contention include the long hours and low wages, especially for employees covering the Met Gala, and more comprehensive and accessible healthcare for trans employees.
“I would say that it was frustratingly difficult to push through some of the general inclusivity parts of the contract, particularly for a company that owns them.us and, ostensibly, has a positive track record with queer issues and representation,” Alma Avalle, a writer and web producer for Bon Appetit and a representative for Condé Nast Union, told Jezebel last year. “I feel like you get to the bargaining table and you find out where their priorities really lie.”
Frankly, I think it’s safe to say we’re all finding out where their priorities really lie with every passing year, as much of the country bows deeper to oligarchy, innocent people are disappearing for dissenting, and genocide rages on. And yet, here we are…still gawking at the one percent. Bleak!
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