by Behind every great look from a Met Gala heavyweight, there are usually five equally great looks, and then one terrible one. The first one.
After years and years of highly publicized and carefully documented Met Galas, it can be hard to recall a look from just five years ago, let alone the 2000s or, possibly, the 2010s. As such, many celebrities have an easy time hiding their Met debut, especially if there’s a long list of iconic looks to bury it underneath.
But in conjunction with this year’s Met exhibit, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, we’re digging up some of those long-forgotten early looks. Rihanna may be red carpet royalty now, but she was once a prom queen in Georges Chakra. And Bella Hadid may be the queen of slinky chic, but even she had a messy start (in a Topshop custom, no less). Here, we take a look back at the first time our Met heavyweights set foot on those hallowed stairs.
Zendaya
Crown princess of the Met Gala and this year’s host, Zendaya attended the Met Gala for the first time in 2015, when she was only 18 years old. The theme was China: Through the Looking Glass, and Baby Z wore a dress by Sicilian designer Fausto Puglisi, who you probably know from his recent work at Roberto Cavalli. “We spent so much time with her and Law Roach, her stylist, and her father,” Puglisi told the Standard in 2023. “She’s so deep. Such an artist, she is so deep.”
Bella Hadid
Bella Hadid, who was a babyface, was present with her old friend Hailey Bieber (Baldwin at the time) also making her debut in 2015. She wore custom Topshop, if you can believe it, with a tight top knot, golden clutch and painted black nails. It won’t go down as one of Bella’s best looks, but her innocence is pretty adorable. Also, RIP Topshop.
Beyoncé
Queen Bey first appeared at the Met Gala in 2008, when the theme was Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. She wore a blush pink Givenchy dress with emerald earrings, which was nowhere near on theme but that’s okay because a) people didn’t adhere to the dress code nearly as far back then, and b) Beyoncé can to do what she wants. .
Rihanna
Bad Gal RiRi arrived at the 2007 Met Gala in the middle of her Good Girl Gone Bad era, sporting a bang-heavy pixie cut and fingerless gloves. She paired these rather large accessories with a Georges Chakra dress, which was embellished with crystals, giving her a strange prom-esque energy. The theme was Poiret: King of Fashion. She has come so far.
Nicole Kidman
Throwing it back to 2003, we have Nicole Kidman and, according to Getty, “an unknown man” (aka Adrien Brody, who won Best Actor at the Oscars that year). It was Kidman’s first Met, the theme was Goddess: The Classic Mode, and, to be fair, Nicole looked a damn good goddess in her Tom Ford-era Gucci.
Victoria Beckham
Also Victoria Beckham, wearing Dolce and Gabbana, took to the Met steps for the first time in 2003. With both designers by her side, Posh elevated the glamor of the 2000s with strappy stilettos, huge blowouts and a mega tan.
Jared Leto
To put it bluntly, Met Gala men aren’t usually reliable. There are a few standouts every year – Harry Styles in 2018, Timothée Chalamet in 2021, and Brian Tyree Henry in 2023 to name a few – but few always hit it big. So, like it or not, Jared Leto is one of the most talked about men on the Met Gala red carpet. He made his debut in 2016, when the theme Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology, wearing Gucci.
Lady Gaga
With so many great looks to do at the Met, Gaga’s 2015 red carpet debut is often overlooked, in part because it’s just technically its beginning. She performed at the 2010 Met Gala, but never made it to the red carpet. For China: Through the Looking Glass, she wore a Balenciaga feathered, kimono-style ensemble. It’s not bad, but it’s far from his best.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian was the first of the Kar-Jenner clan to make a Met Gala appearance (as Kanye West’s date) in 2013, wearing her famous flowery Givenchy number while pregnant with her first child, North West. The dress is most remembered for the memes that have leaked, and Kim is well aware of this – in fact, she told Vogue in 2019 that she “cries all the way home” about it. Maybe that’s why she’s been such a big hit at Met Galas since then.
Kendall Jenner
Before Kendall was wearing phoenix feather locks and bleached brows on the Met steps like a good fashion girlie, she was playing it safe in 2014, wearing a column dress that was – you guessed it – custom Topshop. Phillip Green’s jump scare behind her is a bit of a giveaway.
Kylie Jenner
The number of Kar-Jenners in attendance at the Met is always problematic, whether it’s the naysayers questioning why they’re invited in the first place, or the actual Kardashians questioning why why they are not (Khloé was notably absent from the stylish style. steps until 2022). Kylie finally broke through the fortress in 2016, when the theme was Manus X Machina, and the Kar-Jenner clan was in its Balmain Arm era. Everyone wore designs by Olivier Rousteing, except Kendall, who wore Versace. A bit rude.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is a long-time Met attendee, having attended the gala for the first time in 2004, and the theme was Dangerous Encounters: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century. Serena didn’t exactly do robes à la française, but it was 2004, so who cares? Apparently not Anna Wintour, as Williams went on to host the Met Gala in 2019.
Gigi Hadid
Making her debut the same year as her sister, Gigi Hadid walked the Met steps for the first time in 2015. At this point, older sister Gigi was much more famous (Gigi would go on to Winning International Model of the Year in 2016, but Bella only had). She just made her runway debut) so her Met debut is much better documented than the few off-kilter pictures we have of Bella. The theme was China: Through the Looking Glass, and Hadid wore a crimson gown by Diane von Furstenberg.
A$AP Rocky
A$AP Rocky is one of the other interesting men to watch at the Met every year, who you will now remember for his amazing pilot work with Met Gala queen Rihanna. He has worn quilts, felts and ruffled tuxedo shirts – but first, in 2014, he wore a basic black suit, with a long Topshop tuxedo jacket, while attending alongside his ex-girlfriend Chanel Iman. Topshop’s prominence in the Met Gala debut should be studied.
Friend B
Cardi B has only attended four Met Galas, but in that time she’s already cemented herself as one of the evening’s most exciting arrivals. She usually chooses a cinched silhouette with wide skirts and trains, or she goes so bold on the blog that it doesn’t matter how she can even walk. For her first Met Gala, Cardi did not disappoint, arriving in custom Moschino, matching the brand’s creative designer Jeremy Scott. Regal, pearlescent and positively filled with embellishments, the already stunning look was completed with a sacred headpiece.
Blake lively
It might seem crazy that Blake made her Met Gala debut at the same time as Beyoncé, but this was 2008, and Gossip Girl was at the height of its hype. With the help of Serena Van Der Woodsen, Lively had established herself as the style icon of the time, and so with the ball she went. The theme was Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, and she wore a strapless Ralph Lauren dress with black plumes at the event. Not superhero-y, but maybe that’s what the gloves were getting at.
Sienna Miller
If indie sleaze ever becomes the theme of the Met Gala (unlikely, but stranger things have happened), you’d better believe this gold sequined Burberry mini dress and black tights combo would make a reappearance. Miller had worn it for the Met 2006, where the theme was Anglomania: Tradition and Transcendence in British Fashion, so Burberry was pretty on point. The actress wore her Met outfit again for Noel Gallagher’s night out at Chiltern Firehouse in 2019, which may have been one of the first public re-wears of a Met outfit ever. We stand for sustainable queen.
