A Crisis on the Eve of the Met Gala
Condé Nast has successfully navigated a significant challenge.
Vogue's parent company, the Condé Nast Group, has recently announced that it has reached a preliminary agreement on a first union contract with the Condé Nast union, which represents approximately 540 editorial staff. The new contract includes a starting salary floor of $61,500 per year, which will increase the group's annual wage bill by approximately $3.6 million. It also includes two weeks of paid parental leave and severance payments for previously fired employees, both of which are subject to a vote and approval by the entire workforce this week.
Indeed, since its formation in September 2022, the union has been engaged in multiple rounds of negotiations with the group over its first contract, but progress has often been impeded. The imminent threat of a strike on the eve of the opening of the Met Gala, the fashion industry's Oscars, finally prompted Condé Nast to recognise the gravity of the situation.
On 5 May, just one day before the official 2024 Met Gala, the union issued a warning on Instagram, stating that the two sides would meet in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art if the group's management did not meet with it at the negotiating table.
Mark Alan Burger, social media manager for Vanity Fair and a member of the Catalist union's negotiating team, stated, "We will take whatever steps are necessary to reach an agreement and we will not rule out resigning before the Met Gala."
The Met Gala has been hosted by Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour since the 1990s. It is staffed by Vogue employees. Given its status as the most influential fashion event in the world, it is unlikely that either Anna Wintour or Condé Nast would allow any issues to arise at the Met Gala. Furthermore, it is likely that this strike threat will be carried out in practice.
The threat of significant consequences prompted the union to make its demands known at the earliest opportunity on the day of the official Met Gala. Twelve hours after the agreement was signed, Anna Wintour, who has been the subject of recent public criticism, removed her sunglasses for a rare moment and proceeded to the red carpet in a custom-made Loewe dress to announce the opening of the 2024 Met Gala.
Although the celebrity red carpet trend has shifted from the pursuit of over-seasonal new arrivals to vintage haute couture, reflecting and even leading the way to a certain extent, the Met Gala's former dominance is being dismantled in a macro-environment that is constantly being challenged.
The Met Gala originated in the 1920s and subsequently evolved into a social event with the objective of raising funds for exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Fashion Gallery in New York. It is clear that the original academic and thought-provoking significance of these fashion exhibitions has been eclipsed by the over-commercialisation and entertainment of the Met Gala today. Since Anna Wintour assumed control of the Met Gala in 1995, the event's relationship with commercial brands has become increasingly close, and it has gradually become a highly branded and lucrative marketing event. For many brands, the Met Gala, with its core theme of fashion, remains one of the best occasions for them to gain high-frequency exposure, in contrast to the red carpets of awards ceremonies in other fields such as the Oscars, the Academy Awards or the Grammys.
The Met Gala, which has lost touch with the public and gradually lost its influence due to its transformation into a Vanity Fair, can perhaps be seen as a microcosm of the predicament that Vogue and even the Condé Nast Group are in today. This is not to negate the magazine's core purpose, but it is evident that fashion magazines are no longer able to exert the same level of influence they once did to persuade luxury brands to generate revenue for them.
Conversely, the intensification of entertainment is also a factor. Following three years of organisational restructuring, Condé Nast is still experiencing significant challenges.
