[Source: AP Entertainment]

True love’s kiss or an invite to the Met Gala? Those in the rarified ranks of international celebrity — and Anna Wintour’s good graces — need not choose.

Stars of film, fashion, music, sports, politics and social media will ascend the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first Monday in May — May 6, that is — to sip cocktails, have dinner and sample the new exhibit, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” As fashion’s biggest night approaches, it’s time for The Associated Press to issue the 2024 version of our annual guide.

It started in 1948 as a society midnight supper, and wasn’t even at the Met. Fast forward 70-plus years, and it’s one of the most photographed events in the world, renowned for its head-spinning red carpet — though the carpet isn’t always red.

It’s important to note, though, that the party has a purpose, raising money for the Met’s Costume Institute — nearly $22 million last year, a record for the self-funding department — and launching the annual spring exhibit that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the museum.

But it’s the carpet itself that draws the world’s eyes, with the 400-strong guest list the subject of rabid speculation until the last minute — a collection of luminaries that arguably makes for the highest celebrity wattage-per-square-foot of any party in the world.