Six years later, the Met Gala meme culture phenomenon remains a fascinating case study in how Indian audiences engage with high-fashion discourse online.

As Snappy As It Sounds, Impracticality Of Met Gala Memes Has Permanently Mutilated Camp Fashion

The requisite themes of “Camp: Notes on Fashion” are not supposed to make you feel comfortable and sombre within your outfit since the very essentials ”irony, humour, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality and exaggeration” concern themselves with artificiality and queerness bordering on flamboyance and the “unflattering”! For the lack of any viable short cut, one must step out of comfort zone to match up to Camp’s taste of unconventional and exuberance. Some of the prominent faces in Met Gala 2019 like Katy Perry, Jared Leto, Deepika Padukone, Lady Gaga and Priyanka Chopra adorned the exhibition by acknowledging what inherently is implicit in Camp Fashion- the frivolous and the artificial should be assimilated into costume in order to become a crowning glory of aesthetics forever defying traditional boundaries.

Recent memes that pivoted on Priyanka Chopra’s Met Gala look, fashioned after Mad Hatter from the universe of Alice in Wonderland, were an antithesis to writer Sontag’s conception of Camp Fashion itself.

“…rocker, edgy, tight, bad boy, hip, stylish, flamboyant, unafraid, raging against the conformity that submerges us into boredom and blandness and the sexless saggy sackcloths that most men walk around in like zombies without the cinematic excitement of engorging flesh.”

What Happened To Social Media Preachers?

Instantly, explicit comparisons were being made between Deepika Padukone’s  femininity and Priyanka Chopra’s gender fluidity- at once derogatory, mindless, and oblivious to what embodies the Camp Fashion. Met Gala 2019 had nothing to do with gender conformity, accepted fashion standards, or monotony. If you are gutsy enough to parade in tacky, loud and artificial, you are heartily welcome to this rendezvous that started way back in 1948! Whenever memes went gaga over something that is trying to wriggle away free from claustrophobia, it undermined its own significance, rendering meme art somewhat redundant.

Morphed images were quickly circulated on social media platforms, contorted in order to convert the event into a visual gag that users could consume within split seconds. Memes, as much as they disrepute a culture, at the same time they are also laughing stocks, a tool for harmless mockery however sexist and ignorant they might be. It remains a question of debate how far they should be criticized or if at all. Nowadays, anything can metamorphose into a meme- philosophy, idea, culture, tradition, and “high art” that Camp theme was. Again, it was only through memes that Camp Fashion was brought into the mainstream, talked about, and lambasted vocally for its audacity to be vivacious and daring to those who are unaware of Sontag’s celebrated essay on Camp Fashion.

The vulgar array of memes derailed the conversation on Met Gala’s Camp theme and instead found itself meddling into contemporary issues like feminism, fashion policing, ignorance, and downright sexism. It might sound a bit cynical to point out that sewing crass humor around celebrities and fashion is no more fun than it used to be a few years back. It appeared mildly offensive at times when everything was subjected to constant moral policing, ridicule, or scrutiny that it missed out on fundamental discussions like how self-parody is quintessential in Camp Couture.

Neither Memes Nor Fashion Polices Can Mock Met Gala

Camp’s sense of self-parody is, however, not deprived of aesthetics and that is precisely what popular cultural tropes like memes fail to recognize before trolling its subjects. Like the Camp theme, fashion world mostly remains dark to us and there is no shame in admitting the same. However, whenever we try to mock something that has its essence in parody and love for the unnatural, the act turns itself into a fiasco and backfires at us. What are we indeed poking fun at? The Camp Couture is forever evading from the grasps of fashion critics and truly one cannot pin it down to one definition. As memes kept rolling in a vicious frenzy, it glorified the famous statement- “You’re not making fun of it; you’re making fun out of it.” made by novelist Christopher Isherwood on Camp. In the end, as expected, the memes outshone the parade itself!

Besides the sheer folly with which the memes continued raining on Facebook’s wall, we let go of our ethics by submerging into an unabashed sexist rhetoric and flaunting a blissful ignorance towards an exhibition that made stars step out of the box while trying Sontag’s “Failed Seriousness.” Contrary to popular opinions that have pointed out Met Gala’s exorbitant entry fees, it is not about status quo that we are talking about, but the mediocrity into which meme culture has stepped- the way ridicule has become so easy that it has completely done away with the merit we once associated with it!

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Met Gala 2019 theme about?

The 2019 Met Gala theme was “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” inspired by Susan Sontag’s essay. It celebrated irony, humour, parody, artifice, theatricality, exaggeration, and queerness—pushing attendees to embrace unconventional, flamboyant styles that defy traditional fashion boundaries.

Why did Priyanka Chopra’s Met Gala look go viral?

Priyanka Chopra’s Mad Hatter-inspired ensemble became a meme sensation on Indian social media. However, the resulting memes misunderstood Camp Fashion’s core philosophy, reducing the artistic costume to mockery instead of celebrating its exuberant theatricality and intentional artifice.

How did Deepika Padukone’s Met Gala look compare to Priyanka Chopra’s?

Social media made derogatory comparisons between Deepika’s femininity and Priyanka’s gender-fluid approach. These mindless comparisons missed the point—both looks represented different interpretations of Camp’s celebration of unconventionality and artistic expression beyond traditional norms.

What does Camp Fashion actually mean according to Sontag?

According to Sontag, Camp embraces artificiality, irony, exaggeration, and theatricality while rejecting conformity and blandness. It celebrates the “unflattering,” the frivolous, and the extravagant as essential elements of aesthetic expression and queer sensibility.

Why did meme culture fail to understand Met Gala’s Camp theme?

Meme culture focused on ridicule rather than appreciation, missing Camp’s intentional artifice and exuberance. Indian social media reduced complex fashion statements to surface-level jokes, ultimately diminishing both the artists’ artistic intent and the cultural significance of high-fashion discourse.