A Socialite’s Super Bowl

“The Met Ball is the Super Bowl of social, fashion events,” André Leon Talley explains in the new documentary First Monday in May.

Produced by filmmaker Andrew Rossi (who is also behind Page One: Inside the New York Times), the film chronicles what goes on behind the scenes of the most sought-after ticket in fashion. Rossi shadowed Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, Vogue director of special projects Sylvana Ward Durrett, and Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton as they scramble to plan the 2015 fête and most recent spring exhibition — “China: Through the Looking Glass.” The fashion-forward trio tackles everything from organizing the night’s monster seating chart to budget conflicts with Met Ball headliner Rihanna.

But the glamorous gala isn’t the sole focus of the new documentary. The age-old question “Can fashion truly be recognized as art?” is broached as well.

“I think fashion should be recognized, when it touches people, and moves people. I mean, what more can you ask from art,” answered Anna Wintour.

“What we do is applied art,” explained Karl Lagerfeld, creative director of Chanel and Fendi.

The First Monday in May opens at Houston’s Sundance Cinemas on Friday, April 29, and shows through Thursday, May 5. Watch the full trailer here: