Met Gala themes by year complete list starts in 1973 with The World of Balenciaga — Diana Vreeland shifted the Costume Institute benefit toward exhibition launches at the Metropolitan Museum.

The 1974 Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design theme anchored early Met Gala themes by year complete list entries — golden-age gowns interpreted on the museum steps each December.

Russian, Habsburg, and Chinese dynasty themes filled the Met Gala themes by year complete list through the 1970s — geographic surveys before designer monographs dominated the 1990s.

Diaghilev: Costumes and Designs of the Ballets Russes joined the Met Gala themes by year complete list in 1978 — theatrical costume history meeting Fifth Avenue fundraising glamour.

Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, and Dior retrospectives reshaped the Met Gala themes by year complete list in the late 1980s and 1990s — couture houses underwrote exhibition titles.