(Bloomberg) -- “Camp” was all the rage at the Met Gala this year, after the new Costume Institute exhibition exploring that theme in fashion.
Camp is excess. It's extra. It's self-expression and irony, various designers, socialites and celebrities said Monday night on the pink carpet outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As for which guests were the most camp, forget the clothes. Any billionaire attending had already earned the moniker.
Jeff Bezos, the world's richest person, was captured in photographs hanging out with Kendall Jenner, Kim West and Kanye, and Jared Leto.
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Steve Schwarzman shined in a sparkly vest under his tuxedo, one that matched his wife's dress.
Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO of Kering, patiently waited for his wife Salma Hayek to finish talking to the press, while Barry Diller helped his better half, Diane von Furstenberg, negotiate the stairs as she held a Lady Liberty torch.
For some, getting inside the party, which raised a record $15 million, is the fun part.
But the paparazzi-filled entrance has its moments.
Even Anna Wintour, who helms the party, stayed outside to watch Lady Gaga pose and change outfits, and pose and change outfits again (eventually walking through the Met's doors in more or less underwear).
Julianne Moore huddled there with Tom Ford's husband Richard Buckley, who carried a pig stuffed animal. Demi Moore lingered there with power talent agent Bryan Lourd.
Actor Kyle MacLachlan, finding a pink rose on the floor of the Met Gala entrance that had fallen off an ivy-covered wall, picked it up and presented it to a reporter.
It was a sweet gesture, followed by an exploration of camp. He gave an example.
“A very campy movie would be Michael Douglas in “Wall Street” combined with Michael Douglas as Liberace,” MacLachlan said, acknowledging the campiness of his role in David Lynch's “Twin Peaks.”
Are extra-marital affairs camp?
“Certainly the ones I've been involved with,” said Dominic West, the star of Showtime's “The Affair.”
And are people who work on Wall Street camp?
“There's brass-balls camp,” said “The Great Gatsby” director Baz Luhrmann.
“Maybe when they go to S&M clubs at night,” said Julie Macklowe, who had a stint in hedge funds and is now researching a whisky business.
Glenn Fuhrman, who co-heads MSD Capital, wasn't so sure of a connection.
“Camp and Wall Street don't really go together,” said Fuhrman, in a purple Gucci suit.
But his wife Amanda Fuhrman, wearing Valentino with Jar earrings, had another idea.
“The ridiculousness of the floor of the stock exchange, people screaming and yelling, that kind of chaos is camp,” she said.
“The Wall Street that doesn't take itself too seriously is camp,” said theater owner Jordan Roth. “I know people like that, and they shall remain nameless and joyful.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum
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