It’s the first week of May, which means it’s time for the annual Met Gala – but one famous face won’t be attending the glamorous event tonight.
Regarded as the world’s most prestigious fashion event of the year, the Met Gala attracts massive names from around the globe every time it comes round.
This year, the likes of Pharrell Williams, Doechii, ASAP Rocky, Cynthia Erivo, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, Usher, and Janelle Monáe will be in attendance.
But Sarah Jessica Parker won’t be joining them this year, despite being a regular attender of the art museum’s fundraiser over the last 30 years.
The 60-year-old actress rose to global fame as the lead star of American comedy drama Sex and the City, in which she played main character Carrie Bradshaw.
Set in New York City, also home to the Met Gala, Sex and the City began three years after Sarah first attended the glitzy and glamorous fashion showpiece.
But due to ‘professional commitments’ it appears that one of the biggest and most adored names on the usual Met Gala guestlist won’t be there this year.
‘I have to work,’ she told Entertainment Tonight. ‘But there’s gonna be so much to see, and I look forward to seeing what everybody does.
‘And I can’t wait to see how they interpret the theme and the sort of homework they did for the assignment – the very joyful assignment.’
She continued: ‘I care a lot about [the Met Gala] and I want to try to honour the curators, and everyone who’s inspired the moment for the people who get to attend.’
This year, the theme for the occasion is Superfine, relating to the Met’s upcoming exhibition subtitled Tailoring Black Fashion, which focuses on ‘Black style over 300 years’.
Sarah first attended the Met Gala in 1995, after she’d starred in 1980s and 1990s films such as Footloose, LA Story, Hocus Pocus, and Honeymoon In Vegas.
On the night, she had the ingenious idea to pick up a dress from a nearby thrift store, and do her own hair and make-up, to produce a look that’s still remembered today.
To celebrate British fashion in 2006, she wore a tartan-inspired dress that was designed by none other than legendary designer Alexander McQueen.
Five years later – a year after McQueen’s tragic death at the age of 40 – the Met Gala honoured McQueen, and Sarah took to the floor in a dress she wore as a tribute to her designer friend.
Sarah then began to attend on a yearly basis, attending almost every Met Gala of the 2010s, and has only missed out on a handful of occasions to this day.
It’s not known exactly what Sarah is working on at the moment that means she has to miss the big night, but the third season of Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That is imminent.
The new season begins on May 29 and will continue to follow Sarah’s Carrie, Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes, and Kristin Davis’ Charlotte York in events that take place after the main Sex and the City series.
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