The famous faces have descended on New York City, and many arrived a little early — bouncing between a dizzying array of Met Gala pre-parties held over the weekend.
On Sunday night, about 200 people packed into the United Talent Agency’s party, held at the bar Nubeluz, on the 50th floor of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, as servers passed around passion fruit margaritas and cones filled with caviar.
“I can’t wait to see the outfits tomorrow,” said Tyler Mitchell, who photographed the catalog for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute show, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” “The bad ones and the good ones.”
The artist Rashid Johnson, who is on the gala’s host committee, said he believed the exhibit’s theme, examining 300 years of Black fashion and the vibrant history of Black dandyism, was making the festivities more diverse.
“I think there’s a real obvious difference this year, and that is that there’s a lot of Black people involved,” he said. “I’m just excited to see how that flavors the story.”
The actress Monica Barbaro, who is attending the event for the first time, said she was looking forward to spending time at the museum.
“I’m told I’m allowed to actually go and walk around the exhibit tomorrow night when no one else is there like ‘Night at the Museum,’” she said. “I’m going to leave this party and go home and fall fast asleep so I’m ready for it all.”
It has been a busy few days.
On Thursday, the magazine Cultured took over the Guggenheim to knight one hundred “cultural luminaries” including the actress Sarah Jessica Parker, the actor Walton Goggins, and the Saturday Night Live comedian Chloe Fineman.
On Friday, Vogue, along with the rapper and singer Doechii, the stylist Law Roach, and Mr. Mitchell held a bash in Ginny’s Supper Club, a basement restaurant and jazz club in Harlem, attended by the rapper ASAP Rocky and the actor Colman Domingo, both of whom are co-chairs of the Met Gala.
On Saturday, the singer Miley Cyrus performed at a party hosted by Moncler at Casa Cipriani, a waterside members club. The actress Anne Hathaway and the singer Sabrina Carpenter were spotted at a rooftop bash thrown by Versace and Moda Operandi at The Twenty Two, a hotel and club downtown. And Donatella Versace, dressed in a bright pink pantsuit, celebrated her 70th birthday at The Twenty Two with cake.
By Sunday evening, party goers at the United Talent Agency affair said they were excited.
The actress Cynthia Erivo had been preparing her look for months. She had brainstorming sessions with her design team, late night phone calls, trips to London, and multiple fittings. She sent sketches back and forth, reviewed fabric, and even personally approved a swatch of embroidery, according to her representative, Dan Constable, who leads fashion and luxury deals for U.T.A.
The agency has more than 20 clients attending the gala this year, according to Mr. Constable, and the party was a chance for them to unwind. “It is a celebration of all the hard work that they put into this,” he said.
