Oscar de la Renta blasted the Metropolitan Opera’s general manager Peter Gelb in Thursday’s Women’s Wear Daily (behind a firewall — sorry), complaining that the Met had chosen Germany’s Karl Lagerfeld, France’s Christian Lacroix and England’s John Galliano to design costumes for tonight’s opening gala instead of an American (de la Renta is a naturalized citizen). His fit of pique went beyond words: the designer announced he would not attend the performance, and would not send his annual contribution to the opera, either. It is interesting to note that New York’s other Met, the Metropolitan Museum, the pet cause of Oscar’s wife, Annette de la Renta, was long felt to disdain American artists, and to prefer honoring their European counterparts in its collections.