This year’s theme from the Met Gala was 'Camp: Notes on Fashion'. The theme is inspired by Susan Sontag's 1964 essay in regards to “camp” in fashion. Camp is extremely hard to describe, yet much easier to recognize. 

“The first sensibility, that of high culture, is basically moralistic. The second sensibility, that of extreme states of feeling, represented in much contemporary "avant-garde" art, gains power by a tension between moral and aesthetic passion. The third, Camp, is wholly aesthetic.”  Susan Sontag

Widely misinterpreted, Camp for me simply means, completely over the top in whichever theme you take it.  So you had Ciara’s take on 1986 CAMPesque Cher outfit. 

Or Casey Musgrave’s literal interpretation of a Barbie. The looks from the Met Gala 2019 did not disappoint, especially for someone like me who lives in the spirit of extravagance. 

How does CAMP interpret to Kitchen, Bath and Interior Design? I have a few looks and from the Met that were translatable. But what we have seen recently, in décor, is an increase in pattern play and pushing the rules of basic design to more of a sense of what is aesthetic to someone and identifiable to the individual. Ignoring what was once a “design rule” and going for it like mixing patterns and overlaying textures.  Mixing metal palettes instead of matching the hardware to the faucet. 

Let’s embrace our sense of “CAMP” and make our style something of our own, that shouldn’t, per se, work…..but man does it ever look good!!

“Indeed the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.”

“Pretty in pink, isn't she?”

Art Nouveau

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Knikki Grantham
Trend Manager