A red carpet staffed with photographers, a world-renowned museum as the venue and a theme for guests’ attire and expectations to adhere to — these descriptors sound like the Met Gala, but they also befit another event here on Stanford’s campus. On May 21, La Soirée Cardinale celebrated the art collections and community artists at the Anderson Collection and the Cantor Arts Center.
Open exclusively to Stanford students and their plus-ones, the event was organized by Cardinal Nights, FashionX and the Cantor Art Center’s Student Advisory Committee. With over 700 attendees, this was the second year of the Soirée, with the theme “Through the Looking Glass: Art as Mirror.”
“We like to think of La Soirée Cardinale as a democratization of the Met Gala,” said Bridget Phillips ’26, chair of the Student Advisory Committee of the Cantor Arts Center. “What I have cared most about … is producing an event that is open to all, accessible to all.”
The majority of the event planning occurred during the winter quarter, according to Phillips. In April, FashionX and the Cantor Arts Center organized “Patches & Patches,” a prelude event to the Soirée, where students learned basic mending techniques, textile production and fiber materials, and brought clothing to upcycle, swap or donate. In addition to promoting the Soirée, this event reflected the philanthropic aspect of the Met Gala, the Soirée’s source of inspiration.
The Soirée itself was organized by FashionX members and the Cantor Arts Center’s staff, including student guides and student engagement assistants. “From last year and this year, this event is really student-driven and student-led,” said Vivian Sming, Cantor Arts Center associate director of academic and public programs, “The staff is here to support that vision.”
The Soirée began at the Anderson Collection, Stanford’s collection of contemporary American art. Student photographers captured guests dressed in their interpretation of the night’s theme — “Through the Looking Glass: Art as Mirror” — which was a continuation of FashionX’s 2026 runway show, themed “The Mirror Stage,” as well as the 2015 Met Gala theme of “Through the Looking Glass.” The Soirée’s theme also evoked the title of Lewis Caroll’s 1871 sequel to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
“We wanted to lean into that surreal, dream-like world… to reinforce the idea of stepping into a creative looking glass space where identity and imagination interact,” said Skylar Johnson ’27, one of La Soirée Cardinale’s co-directors and a member of FashionX,
Some guests posed on the carpet in red and burgundy dresses matching the Queen of Hearts’ attire, with light blue ensembles reflecting Alice’s garb and accessories like rabbit ears (paying homage to the White Rabbit), as reflected in Fashion X’s moodboard for the night. Other guests showed up in gowns and tuxedoes following the invitation for attendees to “consider the museums as your muse and come dressed in colors, shapes, and patterns inspired by art.”
Inside the Anderson, a multisensory experience greeted the guests, thanks to a soundscape and tactile activities that accompanied the art. Shaping the soundscape were DJ dJai (Jai Agrawal ’28), violinist Sean Tan ’27, guitarist Eric Wang ’26 and performance artist fp-matrix (Pauline Mornet, a third-year PhD student). The musicians were all positioned between Terry Winters’ “Color and Information,” Mark Rothko’s “Pink and White Over Red,” and Helen Frankenthaler’s “Approach” as they performed for attendees walking up the Anderson’s staircase.
Attendees also had the opportunity to visit the Anderson’s interactive exhibit “1,000 Ways to Hold,” by Erika Chong Shuch, and to make fabric crafts at a button and ribbon-making station outside the museum.
“The button-making has been really fun said Molly Bondy, an academic engagement associate at the Cantor. “The best part is seeing people once their button is done, like the reveal … Everyone is always super excited to see that it worked.”
Outside on the Anderson Collection’s terrace, guests enjoyed charcuterie while listening to Stanford’s Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble perform. On the lawn, guests took photos in front of human-sized mirrors, a repurposed prop from the 2026 Fashion X Runway. A second red carpet, dotted with paper lanterns, paved a path from the Anderson to the Cantor.
“There are so many students who go through their entire life at Stanford without having set foot into the museums, and if they’ve heard about the Cantor, they might not have heard about the Anderson,” said Sming. She added that what makes the event special is how it begins at the Anderson, and you are made aware that there’s a “beautiful space that exists here.”
Student bands Marmalade and Girl Band performed in the Cantor Courtyard, where guests danced and enjoyed more refreshments.
Kristin Pashin ’26, treasurer of the Cantor’s Student Advisory Committee, said the Soirée celebrates “the beauty and talent and artists we already have at Stanford… the student performers are our way of doing that as well.”
“I feel very lucky to be able to hang out with such amazing people and play such wonderful music together,” said Justine Sato ’25, M.S. ’26, a musician in Marmalade.
After the Anderson, the second stop of the Soirée was the Cantor. Walking to the museum’s first floor, guests milled around “Dwelling: New Acquisitions,” a collection of the Cantor’s new acquisitions featuring artist Marie Watt’s titular work. The upstairs exhibition “Animal, Vegetable, nor Mineral: Works by Miljohn Ruperto” and “Jeremy Frey: Woven” was also open to the Soiree’s attendees. Guests also had the opportunity to make zines and jewelry at stations in the Susan and John Diekman Gallery at tables surrounding Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker.”
“My goal is ultimately to see more students engage with the museum, the arts, [to] be more creative and kind of create a greater hub of creativity at Stanford as well,” said Johnson. “I really want Stanford to not just be known as a tech school, but also a creative and art school, as well, because Stanford is full of so many brilliant creatives.”
