'I've Always Been Extra': Pittsburgh Native Billy Porter Works Met Gala's Camp Moment
NEW YORK (AP/KDKA) — The Met Gala kicked off Monday at its campiest best.
Pittsburgh native Billy Porter went Egyptian in gold wings and a chain head piece by the design duo the Blonds, carried onto the carpet by shirtless men in gold pants as he lay on top of a black throne.
"Camp is the art of being extra and I've always been extra," he laughed. "I'm from the theater so it's easy for me."
Porter, who grew up in East Liberty and attended Pittsburgh CAPA, said his gala moment was inspired by back-in-the-day Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor and "everything else." It took him five hours to get ready.
The worlds of fashion, film, music and sports converge at the massive gala every year, a fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute. About 600 people were expected to make it up the museum's grand staircase.
For this, the 71st of the galas, the theme "Camp: Notes on Fashion" was inspired by a seminal 1964 essay by Susan Sontag in which she describes the phenomenon as something that shan't be talked about: "To talk about Camp is therefore to betray it."
The theme is the basis for the Costume Institute's spring exhibition.
Back in February, Porter was a hit at the Oscars in a tuxedo ballgown.
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