The fashion industry is notorious for being exclusive and elitist - for so long, the criteria for success has been who you know, what your last name is, and how much you have. If you don't meet the criteria, you can't get in the room. This is what the Met Gala represents for many: an old boys club where only a few people can get in the door. Fashion lovers around the world sit on the sidelines watching the who's who of the industry walk up the red staircase in their finest fits while they, on their screens, pore over every detail, big or small.

But thanks to social media, the doors have (kind of) been opened. A community of like-minded people passionate about all things clothes, culture, and art have come together to form High Fashion Twitter or hf Twitter. "I stumbled upon it quite naturally after making a Twitter account", says Samantha, a law student and abolitionist organiser in Australia. "After I made my account, I connected with people discussing runways, models, designs etc. Even though it's framed as being a community, it can be quite fragmented - there are tons of different niches", she adds.

The social media app is known as the wild, wild west, and hf Twitter is no different - nothing is off-limits, and discussions range from fashion philosophy to dragging designers to intense arguments about race, history and capitalism. But it's not all heated discussions and politics.

In 2019, a group from the community decided to create their own version of the event, to streamline all the creativity and ideas that were being plastered on timelines as the industry geared up for its most talked about event. From across countries like the UK, America, Australia and Colombia emerged 12 fashion enthusiasts who created a digital Met Gala that would allow their mutuals to expand their imaginations, along with Hollywood's finest. Following the official Met but in the digital space, their event was themed 'About Time: Fashion and Duration'. Last year, they created the theme, 'Faces in the Mirror', exploring the relationship between fashion and identity; and this year, they're putting their spin on the first post-pandemic Met, 'In America: The Lexicon of Fashion'.

22-year-old Senam, a writer, student and one of the founding members of the hft met gala, explains that "one of the main principles of our event is inclusion. The official Met theme was very compelling and very broad, but it was not as inclusive as we think it could've been. We just had more communities in mind when analysing the theme, and we thought they should be able to take part too".

Impacted by sponsorships, industry friendships and the ever-present fear of cancel culture, it's clear that celebrities going to the Met Gala have been playing it safe for a long time. Either that or their teams haven't been doing the basic research that would elevate their common red carpet looks to one worthy of the invite to the Met. And that's where high fashion twitter steps in.

Setting challenges that encourage e-attendees to look at the theme through a wider cultural and historical lens, the team have taken matters into their own hands. Instead of waiting for the industry to take inclusivity seriously, they're making it their priority.

"I don't think the industry was ever intended to cater to people like me or some of the people in this community. I like to be optimistic in thinking that there's a way for things to change, but I think we just have to create our own world, and if they want to catch up, that's fine", Senam says.

And that's what they're doing with their 2022 edition of the event. Moving away from the typical interpretation of American fashion that guests embraced last year, they're looking at The Americas, its diverse cultures and the underrepresented groups who've contributed to American fashion as we know it.

Participants can get involved in five different challenges, including illustration expression, where participants can draw or illustrate their imagined look for the event, a brand challenge, where participants are given a brand and have to create looks using only pieces designed by the brand; and open creativity where people can create makeup looks and hairstyles inspired by the theme.

Instead of approaching the Met as most celebrities do, the hft met team wants people to explore fashion in a way that communicates their love for the art but also be able to look at it critically- something the hft community is all about.

Samantha, who's known by her Twitter handle @DECOUTURIZE, and has over 16k followers, agrees and believes that's what makes the community so special. "I have felt really grateful to be able to talk about and connect with other people who are approaching fashion and art from a political perspective, using fashion to understand our cultural reality."

She names accounts like @loewersace, @theldnhauttie and @monaandthemoon as some of her favourites, with which she has formed bonds to develop and bounce ideas off. Senam echoes this, saying: "I get to interact with more people through my mutuals, and so, seven or eight followers turns into a whole community. And it's not just about aesthetics; it's more about sharing our thoughts and experiences."

When the worlds of social media and fashion collide, it can be a fast race to the bottom. Accounts like Diet Prada have been called out repeatedly for their lack of sensitivity and the clickbait culture they perpetuate. Just a few weeks ago, a fashion commentator broke the internet with unverified claims that A$AP Rocky had cheated on a heavily pregnant Rihanna with shoe designer Amina Muaddi.

It can - and has - gotten really negative, really fast, but where other people focus on the mess and tea spilling, the high fashion Twitter community have set their sights on other things, as Samantha says.

"What I care about is imagining and building new works, [and] creating art rooted in a commitment to the people, to everyone's liberation. That's what good art does. It brings people together."

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