With a Costume Art exhibit in the museum behind them and a “Fashion as Art” theme to guide them, there were two distinct approaches to the Met Gala red carpet this year. The first, embodied by co-chair Nicole Kidman, was much more fashion-oriented and relatively sedate as Met Gala looks go. The second approach was to embrace the outrageousness of the evening and show up in literal works of art. It wasn’t always an approach that worked, as we’ll see.
Ben Platt in Tanner Fletcher
He’s a theater queen, so a “Sunday in the Park with George” reference, 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. This is exactly the kind of overly literal, unimaginative designs we predicted would dominate this red carpet, because when you hand celebrities a Met Gala theme, some of them are going to go for the most obvious interpretations. “Fashion as Art”? Alrighty, then. Make me a painting. In related news, we don’t even think this is executed all that well (looks craftsy as hell) and we don’t like the color story for him at all.
Chase Infiniti in Thom Browne
We don’t know if this is referencing a specific work of art and we don’t care because she looks fucking stunning. We could quibble with the fringe or how the sheer shoulders look weirdly unresolved to the rest of the design, but again, it doesn’t matter. The overall effect is so dazzling and so perfect on her that any minor critiques or quibbles just fade away. Love the colors, LOVE the hair.
Colman Domingo in Valentino
We blurted out on Bluesky last night that this was the worst thing he’s ever worn and in the light of day, we… have not remotely changed our minds about it. Look, we get the whole art thing here. We originally thought this was a reference to Picasso’s harlequins, but he told the press he was inspired by Basquiat. That’s a perfect point of reference for him as a queer Black man, but the look has a marching band goofiness to it that just doesn’t come off fabulous or high fashion.
Gwendoline Christie in Giles Deacon
We love this look because it melds the themes of the evening, combining fashion, costume design and art in a way that doesn’t feel obvious or literal. The dress is gorgeous on her, but it’s that stunning head piece that makes the look.
Heidi Klum in Mike Marino
Girl, it’s not Halloween. This is very impressive costume design and makeup, and we realize that “Costume Art” is the exhibit at the Costume Institute that inspired this year’s gala, but even so: it’s not literally a costume party. This is one of those instances where she’s following the theme but still manages to get the vibe wrong. She’s referencing the sculpture “Veiled Vestal,” by Raffaelle Monti, so we can’t say she’s totally misguided, but she couldn’t move and could barely speak in this because it’s so clearly not fashion.
Lisa in Robert Wun
This is one of those good-on-paper ideas that just doesn’t work out in real life. The extra arms in combination with the ethereal design could have given her an otherworldly, goddessy vibe, but those things, which were modeled on her own arms, don’t look much more convincing than a Target mannequin and the way they’re “attached” just looks like no one really thought this one through.
Madonna in Saint Laurent
Madonna will never tire of being Madonna and that’s why she’s still here, still serving. This is as much a theater piece as it is an art piece, since it requires a troupe of attendants to work, and while we might have rolled our eyes a little at first, we wound up liking it not just for its reference (artist Leonora Carrington’s “The Temptation of Saint Anthony“) but for its unexpected quality. It doesn’t quite work, because those sheer panels come off pretty flimsily rendered, but no one else looked like this on that red carpet and that’s the point.
Sam Smith in Christian Cowan
Bless this bitch. They saw a moment to do a drop-dead diva turn and they took it. It’s giving Erté but even if that’s not the exact reference being made, it positively drips with Art Nouveau fabulosity and it begs the wearer to swan about imperiously and dramatically, which Sam no doubt spent the the night doing. Love the head piece, but this look is missing the cigarette holder it so dearly needs.
[Photo Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue, TheStewartOfNY/INSTARimages]
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