SYDNEY — Camilla Franks staged her own mini-Met Gala here Wednesday night to toast the launch of a collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Staged at the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s ACO on the Pier venue overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge, the party for 130 unveiled the Australian luxury resortwear label’s 73-piece collection of women’s and menswear and accessories featuring six prints that were inspired by the museum’s collections and spaces.
The collection will be launched online on April 7 then in select Camilla stores and wholesale stockists worldwide April 8.
A second launch event is planned for April 8 at The Mark Hotel in New York, where Camilla opened a 1,600-square-foot Madison Avenue store in March 2025, one of seven freestanding boutiques the brand operates in the U.S., which is to date Camilla’s only international market. An eighth U.S. boutique is due to open at Honolulu’s Ala Moana mall in November. The brand has 26 boutiques in Australia.
A more elevated offering than Camilla’s mainline resortwear collections, the capsule incorporates silk satin, silk georgette, chiffon and cotton velvet and features hand-beaded and embroidered coats, evening gowns, tailoring and tasseled silk scarves. It is priced from 600 Australian dollars to 3,500 Australian dollars or $413 to $2,410 at current exchange for dresses and reaches 6,000 Australian dollars or $4,132 for a heavily embellished coat requiring hundreds of hours of handwork.
“Our pinnacle pieces are crafted as unique treasures in limited runs,” said Camilla founder and creative director Camilla Franks. “The Met is a place where the past has a pulse. I wandered labyrinths of inspiration, soaking up centuries of rich textiles, tapestries, hand-painted porcelain and intricate jewelry. This collection pays homage to the museum’s grandeur while bringing both its spirit and some of its most illustrious treasures to life in a way that’s joyful, bold and utterly rich.”
The latest in a string of Camilla print collaborations, The Met x Camilla capsule follows previous partnerships with Disney, “Wicked,” “The White Lotus” and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
It is the first Australian fashion collaboration for The Met, which has previously partnered with brands including Sprayground, Lele Sadoughi, Loewe, Todd Snyder, White + Warren, PacSun and Mat McGrath Labs, often in adjacency to its annual spring exhibition.
