(The other) Met Gala

I've never had much interest in the world of Fashion or its annual prom, The Met Gala (although I am very interested in Meryl Streep, and The Devil Wears Prada 2 is excellent, go see it right now). This year's exclusive event—set among skyrocketing inflation, $4+ gasoline, and other detritus of a broken democracy and late-stage capitalism—was extra tone-deaf, due to its (honorary, aka they gave a very big donation to the Costume Institute) co-chairs Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos.

As is usually the case with big events like this, the more interesting people could be found outside of the tent and on the other side of the police barricades (or, in the case of Amazon union leader Chris Smalls, trying to break through the latter). There were at least two other red carpet fashion shows happening on Monday: A Ball without Billionaires in the Meatpacking District, organized by labor unions; and The Resistance Red Carpet, thrown by direct action group Rise and Resist on 5th Avenue and East 79th Street.

Here are some photos from Rise and Resist's red carpet.

Click the top right corner of any photo to open a full-screen gallery.