Culture

This Twitter Thread Proves Celia Cruz is Worthy of Her Own Met Gala Theme

Lead Photo: Celia Cruz performing at 'VH1 Divas Live' (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
Celia Cruz performing at 'VH1 Divas Live' (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)
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This year’s annual Met Gala theme was an exploration of camp – an aesthetic sensibility famously described in Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on Camp as a “love of the exaggerated” and a “spirit of extravagance.”

While Latinx presence at the gala was thin, our communities have long been practiced experts in camp. What could be more unapologetically campy, after all, than Sabado Gigante or the outrageous acting in María la del Barrio? Latin America’s pop culture landscape and idols have been historically defined by a certain artful over-the-top-ness that would have been right at home alongside Billy Porter and Lady Gaga on the Met Gala’s pink carpet. But perhaps no figure from the Latino pop pantheon would have crushed the theme harder than the Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz.

Revered just as much for her bold, exaggerated style as she was for her musical genius, Celia Cruz was known to sport feathers, rhinestones, fringe, lamé and an unrivaled collection of multi-colored wigs. Her iconic looks were camp personified, and they inspired Danilo Sierra, who goes by @mimosa_daddy on Twitter, to create an epic Twitter thread detailing all the Met gala red carpet looks that Celia wore first and better:

“I followed the event via Twitter, and there was a moment when [Billy Porter] passed and all of a sudden, [Celia] was there,” Sierra told Remezcla of the inspiration for the thread. “I felt like my kid [self] watching Univision, and all of a sudden she was in all of the outfits!”

“She WAS camp, la REINA,” he added. La reina, indeed.

Check out the pictures below, which prove that Celia is a Met Gala-worthy theme unto herself.

celia cruz met gala