by The Met Gala, fashion’s biggest night of the year, has just happened – a moment of frantic anticipation as behind-the-scenes negotiations over which designer will finally be honored with the celebrity outfit (all pairing and fitting completed). given Anna Wintour’s seal of approval) and the watching public gets to decide who performed and who changed the dress code.
The 2024 theme was loose, to say the least. Another result of the major clothing exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, which this year explores the theme “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” (with pieces spanning four centuries and in various states of repair from the museum’s archives) , celebrities were challenged to dress in a “Garden of Time” dress code for Monday night’s gala, a title inspired by JG Ballard’s short story of the same name.
With an unusual amount of freedom to play with, the resulting choices felt more disconnected than ever.
Let’s examine the most notable looks:
Kim Kardashian in a cardigan – with a controversial tiny waist
Kim Kardashian wore a silver strapless Maison Margiela dress with a waist so tiny that it reminded me of the real Marilyn Monroe dress she wore at the same event in 2022. That design was so small that she had to rule a real essay take food and exercise to fit into it. it.
No doubt the social media frenzy soon died down. “Where did you put all your internal organs?” asked one commenter on Instagram. Sure, it’s troubling to see influencers promoting unattainable body standards, but we expect as much from La Kardashian.
What we never expected was that she could be a cardigan influencer too. “It’s the wildest night of my life in a garden and I ran out and threw on my boyfriend’s sweater… my hair is all messed up,” she explained of her ensemble, which ended with what could only be described as bolero or shrug. cardigan, that Noughties event staple that we all thought was consigned to fashion history. Maybe not?
Lauren Sánchez joins the fashion establishment
She is the woman who puts “filthy rich” fashion on the map as the fiancée of Amazon founder and third richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, but Lauren Sánchez tried to achieve “something different” from her Met Gala debut after for him to be wooed and closely monitored by Wintour. before the event.
Usually preferring a low-cut aesthetic, Sánchez trusted Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, Oscar de la Renta’s co-creative directors, for her dress, leaning into the label’s refined and high-end design codes.
The black bustier with a shaded glass skirt was designed to represent a “metaphor for life”. “It’s a little bit about your broken pieces in life and putting those pieces back together,” Sánchez said, adding that Bezos was her favorite accessory of the night.
John Galliano’s secret retrospective
This year’s exhibition was allegedly intended to focus on the work of John Galliano, the one-time Givenchy and Dior designer who fell from grace after anti-Semitic rumors in 2010 and remains on the fringes of the industry working for an avant-garde label. Maison Margiela.
But those plans were said to have been shelved in favor of a less controversial theme. This didn’t stop Wintour (one of Galliano’s best cheerleaders who is said to want him to return to the big fashion house) engineering multiple red carpet tributes to her great friend, including Zendaya taking to the red carpet in two Galliano- . designed looks, one with a custom Margiela dress and the other with a Givenchy Spring-Summer 1996 creation from Galliano’s time at the house. Gwendoline Christie also paraded the red carpet in a look created by the designer for Margiela.
Notably, Galliano himself did not appear on the red carpet but stood with Kardashian briefly.
Crisp packets, ice cubes and a sand timer as the new bags
Who needs a functional bag? Some attendees gave new meaning to the phrase ‘statement accessory’ at this year’s gala. Singer Tyla accessorized her ‘Sands of time’ Balmain dress (statue) with a sand timer ‘bag’, while Camila Cabello carried a rose frozen into a block of ice instead of a clutch.
Actor Michael Shannon also stepped forward carrying a packet of cheese and onion crisps – which was actually a supple leather bag designed by Balenciaga. The price tag? $1,850. A little more than the average Walkers, then.
The no-shows: from Rihanna to Blake Lively
From Rihanna in an instant meme-status Chinese coat to Beyoncé in sheer crystals and Katy Perry as a candelabra, the world’s biggest music divas provided some of the Met Gala’s biggest water cooler moments.
With Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Blake Lively, Beyoncé and Perry all in absentia (despite fake images of Perry showing excitement), anyone looking for an iconic moment had to do with Doja Cat leaving her hotel in a towel and coming. on the red carpet in an oversized wet shirt or Tyla being carried up the stairs of the museum in her Balmain dress, which is not much the same.
Flowers, fresh?
Wintour never uttered the following words, that we know of: “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.” That was Miranda Priestly, who the editor was said to be based on in the book and film The Devil Wears Prada. And yet they feel that she is forever tied to her reputation for cutbacks and exacting standards.
This year’s theme choice may have been a fun nod to the association or a daunting challenge for designers to do something fresh with old-fashioned flowers. Wintour herself stepped up to the plate (or should I say flower bed?) in a coat decorated with floral motifs by Loewe, Sarah Jessica Parker chose crystal floral patterns and Richard Quinn lace, Demi Moore looked stunning in overblown font Harris Reed and Ayo Edebiri. he wore a dress with a delightful meadow of flowers on the skirt.
Pioneering? Maybe not, just a reminder of the simple, timeless joy of buttermilk.
