On Monday, people will tune in to ogle and judge the red carpet looks of the most elite fashion event of the year, hosted by the closest you can get to American royalty — mega celebrities Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth and Bad Bunny. Ironically, the dress code for this year’s Met Gala is inspired by a haunting piece of literature with biting commentary on the ruling class.
There is a long legacy of symbiosis between the literary and fashion worlds. In literature, fashion is symbolic. Clothing is context. An outfit can divulge more about a character than a page of dialogue: signaling a fall from grace, power and status, or even mental turbulence. Literature has given us enduring fashion icons: Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly, Ian Fleming’s James Bond, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby, and Jessica Knoll’s Ani FaNelli. The list is long, impactful and ever-growing.
“The Garden of Time” explores many things, among them the fragility of humanity — specifically within the wealthy class.
In February, Ana Sui introduced her fall 2024 collection called “WHODUNNIT!!!,” for which models, wearing looks inspired by the “Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie and her beloved character Miss Marple, breezed past shelves of leather-bound books in The Strand’s rare books section. Before that, literary heavy-hitter Zadie Smith was featured in the pages of British Vogue wearing a gold, architectural orchid necklace by one Alexander McQueen. And in just a few hours, at the Met Gala, the pinnacle event in the fashion world, celebrities, actors, influencers and contemporary fashion icons will unveil looks inspired by J.G. Ballard’s short story “The Garden of Time.”
Published in 1962, “The Garden of Time” tells the story of Count Axel and his wife. The aristocratic couple are sequestered to their villa and expansive walled garden by an advancing mob of working-class serfs. In the shade of their Palladian villa, “time flowers” grow. They’re 6 feet tall, with slender stems that bear a translucent, goblet-sized flower. Every few days Axel snaps one of the time flowers