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With the museum’s Costume Arts exhibit behind them and the “Fashion As Art” theme to guide them, there were two distinct approaches to the Met Gala red carpet this year. The first one, co-chaired by Nicole Kidman, was as fashion-forward and demure as Met Gala looks go. The second way was to accept the outrage of the evening and manifest it in real works of art. It was not a method that always worked, as we shall see.
Ben Platt to Tanner Fletcher
She is a theater queen, so the reference to “Sunday in the Park with George”, based on Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte” makes a certain amount of sense, but we’ll be honest: we hate this. It’s exactly the kind of hyper-realistic, unimaginative designs that we predicted would dominate this red carpet, because when you give celebrities a Met Gala theme, some of them are going for the most obvious explanations. “Fashion as Art”? Oh well. I made a drawing. On a related note, we don’t even think this is that well done (it looks arty as hell) and we don’t like the color story on him at all.
Chase the Infiniti to Thom Browne
We don’t know if this is referring to some artwork and we don’t care because it looks amazing. We can argue with the hem or how the sheer shoulders look unresolved in the rest of the design, but again, it doesn’t matter. The end result is so amazing and perfect for him that any small criticisms or mistakes just disappear. Love the colors, LOVE the hair.
Colman Domingo in Valentino
We were shocked at Bluesky last night that this is the worst thing he’s ever worn and during the day,… Look, we’re getting all creative here. At first we thought this was a reference to Picasso’s harlequins, but he told the press that he was inspired by Basquiat. That’s the whole point of referring to him as a tyrannical Black man, but the look has a marching band that isn’t flashy or high fashion.
Gwendoline Christie to Giles Deacon
We love this look because it combines the themes of the evening, combining fashion, costume design and art in a way that doesn’t feel obvious or realistic. The dress is nice on her, but it’s that head piece that looks great.
Heidi Klum to Mike Marino
Girl, it’s not Halloween. This is very impressive costume design and makeup, and we note that “Costume Art” is the Costume Institute exhibition that inspired this year’s crown, but still: it’s not a real costume party. This is one of those times where he follows the theme but manages to get the vibe wrong. He’s referring to the sculpture “Veiled Vestal,” by Raffaelle Monti, so we can’t say he’s completely lost, but he can’t move and can’t speak in this because it’s obviously not fashionable.
Lisa to Robert Wun
This is one of those great ideas on paper that doesn’t work in real life. The extra arms combined with the ethereal design would have given her an otherworldly, divine vibe, but those things, made up of her arms, don’t look much more convincing than the target Mannequin and the way it’s “attached” looks like no one really thought this through.
Madonna in Saint Laurent
Madonna will never get tired of being Madonna and that’s why she’s still here, she’s still serving. This is as much a piece of theater as it is a piece of art, as it requires a team of watchmen to operate, and although we may have rolled our eyes a little at first, we ended up loving it not only because of its reference (the artist’s “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” by Leonora Carrington) but because of its unexpected quality. It doesn’t work well, because those simple panels appear easily translated, but no one else looked like this on the red carpet and that’s the point.
Sam Smith to Christian Cowan
Bless this poor man. They saw a moment to do a drop-dead diva turn and took it. It offers Erté but even if it’s not a direct indication of performance, it drips with Art Nouveau elegance and asks the wearer to dance with it in a strange and wonderful way, which Sam no doubt spent the night doing. Love the head piece, but this look is missing the much needed cigarette holder.
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