While billionaires get ready for the Met Gala, their workers walk a different kind of runway

FastCompany: Hours before Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos take their places as sponsors and honorary chairs of the Met Gala—fashion’s glittery annual fundraiser in support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute—a different kind of fashion event was unfolding across town. Ahead of the gala, hundreds of workers, organizers, and advocates gathered in the Meatpacking District in downtown New York for the Ball Without Billionaires, a worker-led fashion show designed to contrast the one at the museum.

Organized by a coalition of labor groups including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Strategic Organizing Center, and the Amazon Labor Union, the event cast current and former workers from Amazon , Whole Foods, The Washington Post , Starbucks, and Uber as models—dressed by emerging, immigrant, and BIPOC designers like Cindy Castro, Abacaxi, Atashi, and Ricardo DSean. Actress and comedian Lisa Ann Walter and fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson co-hosted the Ball Without Billionaires. [Photo: courtesy SEIU] The ball’s message was straightforward.

While the 2026 Met Gala’s theme is “Fashion Is Art,” the workers’ counter-theme was “Labor Is Art.” The ambience at the event was celebratory. Workers showed up in fabulous outfits and complimented each other on their looks. [Photo: courtesy SEIU] Before the runway show began, labor union activist April Verrett, who has served as president of the SEIU since 2024, took to the stage. “Every year, the Met Gala tells a story about who matters, who gets seen, who gets celebrated,” she said. “This year, we decided to center us.

To make ourselves the heroes of our story, to celebrate ourselves and to live our joy out loud.” Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Bezoses’ decision to sponsor this year’s gala—and serve as its honorary chairs alongside co-chairs Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams—has drawn significant backlash. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced he would skip the event, citing his focus on affordability. “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala” posters have appeared across the city in recent weeks, many referencing long-standing allegations of labor violations at Amazon’s warehouses.

The Ball Without Billionaires brought together workers with a range of grievances. Among those who traveled to New York for the event was Angelita Soriano, a community organizer from Hobart, Indiana, who is fighting to halt a hyperscale Amazon data center that’s slated to be built across the street from residential homes. Anna Wintour and Lauren Sánchez Bezos attend the press conference for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating “Costume Art” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2026, in New York City.

[Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images] The planned facility would consist of 26 buildings operating around the clock, she says, raising concerns about water use, noise, and light pollution. “We’re just asking for them to prove it’s not going to hurt our homes, our environment—with third-party, independent research,” Soriano tells Fast Company . “And they’ve refused to do that.” Soriano says she made the trip to New York because she saw the action as a different form of advocacy. “It’s not just going to city council meetings or protesting outside,” she says.

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The article discusses the intersection of high-profile branding and social responsibility, which is significant for the industry, while also presenting a somewhat novel perspective on contrasting brand narratives.