Met Gala 2021 - Naomi Osaka ready to co-host the most exclusive party in the fashion world
Following in the footsteps of former co-chair and fellow Olympic tennis star Serena Williams, Osaka will welcome celebrities from all around the world for the fundraising extravaganza.
Tennis
After a one-year hiatus the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute benefit, or the Met gala, is back.
The event, which is well known for being the most glamorous and star-studded event on the celebrity calendar, convenes designers, models, and global superstars for a night of fundraising and celebration in aid of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
On hosting duties for this year’s edition is none than tennis superstar Naomi Osaka.
Every year, the Met gala has a small number of co-chairs who are selected by Vogue's Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour. Actor Timothee Chalamet, musician Billie Eilish and poet Amanda Gorman were selected alongside the four-time Grand Slam champion to help receive guests.
The 23-year-old has recently become well accustomed to being at the heart of global events. On July 23 Osaka was given the honour of lighting the cauldron signalling the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
Now in New York, she will switch sporting heights for celebrity glamour.
Famed for the way she expresses herself through her outfits both on and off the court, Osaka’s individualistic style and choice of clothing will tonight, be front and centre.
As fashion’s most revered soiree, the gala is designated a theme. A-list guests from the industries of music, film, television, and sport are all encouraged to embrace the chosen concept and dress accordingly.
This year, the theme draws its inspiration from the exhibition that will also open on the night: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. The creative direction is intended to be a celebration of designers heralding from the United States who have left their mark on the world of fashion.
Olympians expected to attend the Met Gala 2021
While the guest list is notoriously closely guarded Naomi Osaka is expected to be joined by some familiar Olympic faces at this year’s fashion spectacle.
Tokyo 200m bronze medallist Noah Lyles will be making his Met Gala debut tonight.
Allyson Felix – America’s most decorated track and field athlete after this summer’s Games – is rumoured to be attending. So too is and gymnastic “GOAT” Simone Biles who took her Olympic career medal tally to an eye-watering seven last month in Japan.
It will not just be this year’s Olympians soaking up the spotlight on a night guaranteed to be full of glitz and glamour.
Three-time Winter Olympic medallist Lindsey Vonn is set to make an appearance at the acclaimed event.
London 2012 silver medallist Maria Sharapova is reported to have been invited and, having herself co-hosted the event back in 2019, tennis icon Serena Williams is also anticipated to don the red carpet hugging the infamous steps of the Met Museum.
As the gala draws ever closer, Olympics.com takes a look back at past versions of the event and the Olympians who have rubbed shoulders with fashion’s elite.