“The Devil Wears Zara”: Anna Wintour’s Latest Met Gala Disaster

If anyone in Hollywood is working on the script for The Devil Wears Prada 3, we have a ready-made plotline for them.

It has a powerful magazine editor whose star appears to be fading. A billionaire fashion heiress. A disgraced British designer attempting a spectacular comeback. And, most importantly, a lavish ball scene that is virtually guaranteed to end in a spectacular scandal, The Hollywood Reporter writes.

The real-life Miranda Priestly, of course, is Condé Nast creative director Anna Wintour, who lately seems to be stepping on one rake after another as she heads toward the next Met Gala.

After last May’s fiasco — when protesters opposed to Amazon and Jeff Bezos plastered Midtown Manhattan and the Upper East Side with “Boycott Bezos’ Met Gala” signs — the 76-year-old Wintour promised to make the next gala more subdued: a smaller guest list, less conspicuous luxury and, ideally, no more scenes in which protesters confront celebrities directly on the red carpet.

And then Wintour did something that seemed almost impossible to explain: she chose John Galliano as the star of the 2027 Met Gala.

Yes, that John Galliano — the flamboyant 65-year-old designer who once transformed Dior into fashion’s most theatrical house. In 2004, for example, he sent models down the runway dressed as gigantic Egyptian pharaohs.

Then, in 2011, Galliano was fired by Dior and effectively exiled from the fashion world after an alcohol-fueled antisemitic and racist tirade in a Paris café. The scandal was so serious that his remarks were considered potentially criminal hate speech under French law.

It was hardly surprising that Wintour’s choice did not last long.

On August 31, amid mounting pressure from Jewish organizations, Met donors and New York politicians, Galliano announced on Instagram that, “with great sadness,” he had decided it would be “better” for the Costume Institute if his tribute did not go ahead at this time.

But this is where Wintour’s problems get even more complicated.

Today, Galliano works for Zara, the fast-fashion giant, where he has been tasked with essentially reinterpreting some of the brand’s most iconic looks.

And although no official announcement has been made, well-placed sources in the fashion world claim that Zara was reportedly preparing to become one of the financial sponsors of the 2027 Met Gala.

Amazon, unsurprisingly, has opted out of next year’s event.

Zara did not respond to a request for comment. Traditionally, Met Gala sponsors are not announced until later in the fall. But there have already been some intriguing hints.

For instance, the September issue of Vogue unexpectedly featured a sprawling six-page profile of Zara chair Marta Ortega Pérez, the 42-year-old daughter of 90-year-old Inditex founder Amancio Ortega.

Of course, Pérez is more than worthy of Vogue’s attention. But six pages is an awful lot even for the head of a fashion company. At that point, the only thing missing from a first-lady-level profile is a few Annie Leibovitz portraits.

If Zara really was preparing to bankroll the next Met Gala, the situation could turn into another painful blow for Wintour.

It is difficult to imagine the company wanting to remain a partner of the event after its star designer was effectively removed from the lineup.

So who will be writing the checks for the 2027 Met Gala now? And will it even happen?

The Met is offering an exceedingly evasive answer: “Plans will be announced at a later date.”