Met gala heralds unusual fashion icon exhibit

(CBS News) Dozens of A-list stars turned out Monday night at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate two visionary artists of the fashion industry.

The Annual Costume Institute Gala is one of New York City's best-dressed red carpet events. The event is known as the "Oscars of the East."

Stars dress for Wintour-hosted, Prada-themed gala

"It's another illustration of what makes this city so exciting," actress Sarah Jessica Parker said. "In large part due to Anna Wintour."

Wintour, the co-chair and Vogue magazine editor-in-chief, played host to a crowd draped in masterpieces. "I always say you can look at a great fashion photograph and you can tell just as much as what's going on in the world as a CBS news program," Wintour said. "I mean, fashion is history, fashion is culture, fashion reflects the times, and that's really what the Costume Institute sets out to do."

The Costume Institute's new exhibit, "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" pairs the works and thoughts of two legendary designers, the flamboyant Elsa Schiaparell, known for her collaborations with surrealist artists of the 1930s, and Miuccia Prada, who took over the family business in 1978, and turned it into a global empire.

Behind the exhibit is curator Andrew Bolton. When he was asked why he put the two fashion icons together, Bolton said, "Both women share this absolute passion to challenge our expectations about fashion. The show is really about many conversations, the two women, past and present, and the objects themselves enter into a dialogue with each other."

The "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" exhibit is on display between May 10 and Aug. 19.