As May approaches, anticipation grows as to who will attend fashion's biggest night, and this year, the question on our minds is: Would Malia Obama ever attend the Met Gala?
Over the years, Malia Obama has been slowly but surely cementing her place in the fashion world with her effortlessly cool street style. However, her official red carpet appearances have been few and far between.
Back in September 2024, the former first daughter most notably attended the Deauville American Film Festival in France wearing a full look from Vivienne Westwood's fall 2024 ready-to-wear collection, and that's pretty much the last time we've seen her make a public appearance. But could she make an exception for the Met Gala? Given the right circumstances, the chances are likely.
Aside from giving us style inspo while strutting around Los Angeles (both with and without her sister), Malia Obama is an aspiring filmmaker — and a really promising one at that. She made her directorial debut at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival with her short film, The Heart, which featured Donald Glover as one of its executive producers.
Before The Heart and her award-winning senior thesis screenplay at Harvard, Yellow Light, Obama also previously worked as a production assistant on CBS's Extant and HBO’s Girls; she then connected with Glover as a writer on the Emmy-nominated Prime Video limited series Swarm. Most recently, in May 2025, Obama directed the commercial for WNBA star A'ja Wilson's Nike signature sneaker, the “A'One."
Although she has remained out of the spotlight for most of these achievements, she could take a more proactive approach as she joins or leads new projects — and the Met Gala, notoriously known for its private and no-social-media policies, could be the perfect event for a budding style icon like Obama.
While most people think Met Gala invites are reserved for fashion darlings and insiders, celebrities from all walks of pop culture are also guests at the event, often invited by brands that purchase a table for the fundraiser.
Glover, Obama's mentor, who is also on the more private side of fame, has attended the event three times in the past — in 2017, 2018, and most recently in 2024.
The Met Gala might be a spectacle for those of us watching from home, but at its core, it's a charitable event benefitting the Metropolitan Museum of Art — an organization close to the heart of the Obama family. In 2014, Michelle Obama was in charge of cutting the ribbon at the Metropolitan Museum's new costume centre, named after Met Gala mastermind Anna Wintour, and also took the time to praise the famed editor.
“I'm here because I'm so impressed by Anna [Wintour]'s contributions not just to the fashion industry, but to the many causes she shares and cares about, particularly this great American museum,” the former First Lady said at the time. "This centre is for anyone who is curious about fashion and how it impacts our culture and our history. And we know that that curiosity is out there."
Given her ties to pop culture and her status as an emerging fashion star, we have a feeling it's more likely a matter of “when” rather than “if” Malia Obama would attend the Met Gala, and we will certainly be keeping our eyes peeled (and manifesting!) until the day hopefully attends.
