“I hope Pusha T and Drake don’t bring their beef to the event,” Rihanna told reporters.
Photo by: Stephen Lightfoot
According to an insider tip, the Met Gala theme for 2019 is already in the works, with many well-known celebrities preparing in advance. Considering this year’s controversies about appropriating Catholicism, sponsors such as Donatella Versace and Anna Windsor have carefully crafted next year’s theme: “Veganism.” Although the sponsors refuse to comment on the specifics or even confirm the theme, many celebrities are eager to share their take on it.
Solange Knowles displays great enthusiasm about the theme’s flexibility, commenting, “I’m really excited to emerge myself in this inspiring culture. I can’t wait to be a better person.” In response to Knowles’ interpretation of the theme, many other celebrities look to her for inspiration. Just a few days ago, notable figures such as Migos and Miley Cyrus were spotted entering vegan clothing stores, including Liberating Sanctorium of Threads and selected Target locations.
Despite the premature buzz for next year’s biggest fashion event of the year, the theme has been met largely with criticism, with some calling it cultural appropriation of vegans. One critic describes this theme as “a disastrous attempt at street-wear disguised by trendy outfits without cohesion.” The vegan community naturally has qualms about the portrayal of veganism by those who are not vegan.
Jasmine Pin, one of the Met Gala’s most vocal opponents, is a long-term vegan and the creator of a progressive vegan organization known as GOTBEEF (Group of Organism-Lovers Thoroughly Bent on the Ethics of Eating Food), which fights for the rights and protections of fellow vegans. Pin set up various protests in the Los Angeles area, primarily Brentwood and Calabasas, asking everyone who approached the sidewalk to sign her petition for a theme change.
“I’m trying to start a movement here,” Pin stated. “Everyone is about to find out just how messed up it is to appropriate veganism. I refuse to let the meat eaters speak for us, or worse: vegetarians.” When confronted about how the petition will reach the head of the Met Gala, Pin responded, “The idea is that I’d just post this on Twitter. The Met Gala will see it!” She paused briefly to listen to another GOTBEEF member before she continued, “Uhh, who’s in charge of Met Gala?”
“I think it’s easy to be neutral when you use veganism as an accessory,” said Charles Mayhew, a bystander at Pin’s protest, “and I can see how Versace or whatever is doing their best to please people. Also, veganism belongs to everyone or is forced onto everyone anyway … which reminds me, Catholicism wasn’t even an offensive theme in the first place. Dude, like the Vatican supported it, probably out of guilt or something.”
Despite the rising animosity towards the 2019 theme, it appears there is no stopping the vegan trend. Pin also told reporters, as she sipped on a coconut-oil-infused green tea, “Just remember that I am a vegan, and as much as being a vegan is objectively the best thing you can do in your life, you can’t go around pretending to be a better person just because you’re a celebrity … Wait a minute, holy shit. Solange said that?”
Samantha Cane is a second-year literature major at UCSD. She is the current Copy Editor of the MQ.
