WATCH | Goddesses, angels & popes rock the 2018 Met Gala

Gold crosses, halo-inspired headdresses and angel wings filled the red carpet at New York's Met Gala on May 7 2018, as some of the world's biggest celebrities embraced the religious theme of the so-called 'Oscars of the East Coast'.

Held every year on the first Monday in May, the black-tie extravaganza is the chief source of income for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, reportedly raising more than R151-million ($12-million) in 2017.

WATCH | Goddesses, angels & a pop rock the 2018 Met Gala

The Gala marks the opening of the Met's popular spring exhibition, which this year is themed "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination". 

The exhibit, which will be open to the public from May 10 until October 8, will feature papal robes and accessories flown in from the Vatican, as well as designs by the likes of Balenciaga, Chanel, Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Versace and Vivienne Westwood.

Tickets to the star-studded opening party are said to cost over R378,000 ($30,000) each or R3.5-million ($275,000) for a table, but all guests must be invited, ruling out all but the most elite Hollywood actors, music superstars, top models and fashion designers.

• Additional reporting by staff reporter.