Asked about criticism over Bezos’ role as sponsor of the 2026 Met Gala, Anna Wintour described American philanthropist and former journalist Lauren Sanchez Bezos as “a great lover of dress and obviously fashion.”
Speaking to CNN in Doha, Qatar, at the opening ceremony of the Franca Fund Gala dedicated to the late Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani, Wintour said she believed Sanchez Bezos would be “a wonderful asset to the museum and the program.”
“We’re so grateful for her incredible generosity,” Wintour told CNN, “so we’re thrilled she’s part of this night.”
Jeff Bezos and Sanchez Bezos were unveiled last week as main sponsors of the event, with secondary sponsors French luxury brand Saint Laurent and Vogue publisher Condé Nast.
Wintour left her post as editor-in-chief of Vogue US earlier this year, but remains Vogue’s global editorial director and chief content officer for Condé Nast, meaning she still oversees the annual Met Gala.
The announcement of Bezos’ sponsorship sparked immediate reaction on social media, with critics arguing that his involvement highlights a shift toward billionaire control over cultural institutions. Others have argued that the money could be better spent on other causes.
“Great theme,” one user wrote under a video on the Metropolitan Museum’s official Instagram announcing there would be “costume art” next year, before adding: “However, stop giving Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez the stage with art and fashion, these two horrible, autocratic capitalists will never be there, no matter how much money they want to spend to buy into a culture they have never cultivated and will never be there.”
Traditionally, the festival and its accompanying exhibition have been supported by luxury houses, including this year’s event, which was supported by Louis Vuitton. However, past sponsors have included big tech companies like TikTok, Instagram (owned by Meta), Apple, Yahoo, and even Amazon. The latter sponsored the Met Gala in 2012, and its founder Bezos served as honorary chair.
To some, the decision to sponsor the event is indicative of the couple’s ambition to gain cultural and fashion legitimacy, with parallels being drawn between the rise of Sanchez Bezos and Kim Kardashian within the fashion industry. It was only a decade ago that Kardashian – a friend of Sanchez Bezos – transformed her image from reality TV star to become a significant figure within high fashion circles, thanks to a nod of approval from Wintour and a Vogue cover with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, to whom she was married for seven years.
Although Sanchez Bezos has not publicly discussed his intentions, the move marks a deeper foray into the fashion world. The couple skipped the 2025 Met Gala due to their wedding celebrations, but attended the event in 2024 and posed for the cover of Vogue US in June this year. She was recently seen at Paris Fashion Week, where she attended shows for Chanel and Baleniaga, wearing retro looks created by celebrity stylist Molly Dixon (whose clients also include singer Lana Del Rey and actor Sidney Sweeney). Sanchez Bezos’ Earth Fund also announced a $6.25 million partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) this year to promote sustainability in fashion.
As part of its announcement, the Met also revealed that in recognition of the donation from the media company (the amount of which was undisclosed), a gallery space would be named after Condé Nast’s late founder.
Amy Odell, the New York-based author of “Anna,” a biography of Wintour, noted that the timing coincided with the publisher’s recent layoffs, which affected several titles, including Teen Vogue — a decision about which “people were very emotional, because it cut off young, diverse voices doing political coverage for younger audiences,” Odell said in an Instagram video. “Condé Nast is cutting corners. The festival is on. Rich people are getting ‘richer.'” The optics are somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe until something changes in income inequality in this country, these will continue to be the main attraction of the festival every year.
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