Even fashion royalty can be blindsided.
In a recent interview on The New Yorker Radio Hour, Anna Wintour revealed what really went through her mind when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrived at the 2021 Met Gala in the gown that nearly broke the internet.
The ivory off-the-shoulder dress by Aurora James of Brother Vellies was relatively inconspicuous from the front, with a neat row of suiting-style buttons and a flouncy hem. On the back, though, the words “Tax the Rich” were emblazoned in bright red scrawl.
“I said, ‘I just love your dress.’ I’d only seen her from the front,” the longtime Vogue editor, 75, recalled. “Fortunately, I had a wonderful evening.”
It wasn’t until the next day, she admitted, that she fully registered the bold scarlet message splashed across the back.
The dress was arguably the most talked-about look of the night — eclipsing even Kim Kardashian’s faceless Balenciaga ensemble.
The slogan wasn’t subtle, and neither was the reaction, much of which focused on the disconnect between the political slogan and its delivery in a room where tickets at the time cost upwards of $35,000 (now $75,000) and gowns cost tens of thousands more.
Donald Trump Jr. blasted the congresswoman as a “fraud” for hobnobbing with wealthy elites while calling for higher taxes. Republican Rep. Jim Banks labeled her “the gift that keeps on giving.”
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A separate wave of critiques came from the left, where progressives accused Ocasio-Cortez of theatrical posturing instead of using her political leverage to deliver substantive wins.
Wintour, though, had a more circumspect take on the dress. “I think everybody uses fashion in different ways, and, obviously, that was something that was important to her,” she said in the interview with the New Yorker editor in chief David Remnick.
The look has remained in the headlines. Earlier this year, the House Ethics Committee ruled Ocasio-Cortez underpaid for the custom gown and accessories, finding she owed thousands in additional costs — though the panel said her violations weren’t “knowing and willful.”
Wintour, too, has been in the news lately. In June, she announced that she was stepping down from her role as editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she’s held for 37 years.
She’ll remain the editorial director of all global Vogue editions and the chief content officer of Condé Nast, but will pass the reins at the magazine to 39-year-old protégée Chloe Malle.
Speaking with Remnick, she said she felt it was the right time to plan for succession: “It seemed like a good moment to bring in someone with a different perspective and a different generation, who could look at things in a new way.”