Jeff Bezos back in the day, at left, and unveiling the Kindle Fire last year, at right.

It’s one of the biggest events of the year for the fashion world in New York, generating speculation about which Vogue cover star will provide the entertainment — Jennifer Lopez or Adele or, gosh, maybe even Taylor Swift. And the person serving as the honorary chair this year is … Jeff Bezos?

Yep, the guy who was once famous for his khaki pants and blue oxford shirts has been named to that position for this year’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit — a May 7 gala kicking off the Met’s new exhibition, “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.”

The honorary position is a nod to Amazon’s role as a sponsor of the exhibition.

Bezos has noticeably upgraded his wardrobe in recent years, but we can’t help but think that the Met’s fashionistas somehow missed this part of Wired’s 1999 profile of Bezos.

For the kind of shopper Bezos represents, utility is, of course, a mantra. His wardrobe consists of white or blue dress shirts and a pair of khaki pants. Back in the late ’80s in New York, when he had to wear a suit every day to the office, he gained a preference for shirts with hidden snaps under the collar points for easy tie removal. He has trouble locating this style in the Pacific Northwest, so now he buys a pack of standard snapless shirts and has the snaps sewn on. When he discovers a pair of shoes he likes, he’ll buy four pairs at once and wear them in regular rotation for years.

Co-chairs for the Met gala include Miuccia Prada herself and Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief. Maybe Bezos can somehow convince them to revive that whole snaps-under-the-collar thing.

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