Madonna: Blonde Ambition

Missing New York? Why not take a virtual visit to one of the big apple’s quintessential landmarks? In this live, online lecture, we will explore the hidden gems of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the grandest and most prestigious art institutions in the world. Our virtual tour will include the history of the Costume Institute and its famous annual gala, the wing that once hosted a Chanel runway, and the setting of one of the most memorable scenes from “When Harry Met Sally.” We will discover how a 3D-printed skeleton dress made its way into a current exhibition and find out what happened to the iconic metal admission buttons the museum used for decades –– and how they relate to the Olympic games. Finally, we will visit the new exhibition “Making the Met,” where we will meet Saint Rosalia, praying to end the Italian Plague epidemic, painted by Van Dyck in 1624 while he was quarantined in Sicily.

Could it be that we are at the beginning of a new era in fashion, where age has no meaning and style has no age? Has the fashion world grown up and stopped worshiping the young? The complicated connections between fashion and puberty have received different expressions throughout history. For instance, Marie Antoinette's silver hair trend is currently making a comeback, while paradoxically, the perpetual pursuit of the fountain of youth marches on. However, in the last decade, there has been a perceptual change made possible through online platforms. Blogs and Instagram accounts broke age conventions and opened the stage for women of all ages. One of the most famous of them is Iris Apple, the 101-year-old fashion icon who made it to the cover of "Harper's Bazaar." The lecture is a cross-generational meeting celebrating every age's beauty and style.

The queen may lack a crown, but she dons a cone bra, fishnet stockings, and the iconic name Madonna! The ultimate diva of Western pop, who, with her debut record, sent the world into a frenzy with her groundbreaking style, continues to shape and influence the fashion scene. Madonna is the master of the stage persona, using clothes and accessories as tools for social revolution and a shield against relentless public scrutiny. In her lecture, Yaara Keydar explores the life of this modern icon—a tale of courage and personal sacrifice woven through the musical milestones and stylistic evolutions of a woman who constantly reinvents herself while always staying true to who she is. Madonna, this is a love song.