MET GALA
A look at some of the most legendary Met Gala dresses over the years
From Rihanna to Zendaya to Cardi B, we take a look at some of the most iconic and unusual dresses seen at the Met Gala in recent years.
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will be rolling out the red carpet for the 2024 edition of the Met Gala this weekend. An exclusive guest list, a roll call of the world’s top designers, creatives, models, A-list celebs and dedicated followers of fashion will be glamming up for this year’s floral-inspired dress code and theme: Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’.
So now seems the perfect moment to take a step back and look at some of the most iconic dresses worn at an event that has been described as the “Super Bowl of fashion” and “Fashion’s biggest night out”.
From dresses that took thousands of hours to create, dresses that glow in the dark, and dresses with armor plating, here are some of the most eye-catching looks to hit the Met Gala red carpet.
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Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala ‘China: Through the Looking Glass’
Rihanna stole the show when she arrived at the 2015 Met Gala wearing an opulent, yellow fur-lined cape-gown, with a nine-foot-long train that weighed 55 pounds, designed by Chinese designer, Guo Pei.
According to RiRi herself, the dress was handmade and took roughly two years to make, with 6,000 hours of labor to put together the gold thread and fox-fur lined gown.
Rihanna was the first person to wear the dress off the runway and wore it with gold jewelry, a golden headpiece that looks like vines intertwined with flowers, and matching golden stiletto heels.
Claire Danes at the 2016 Met Gala ‘Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology’
Actress Claire Danes arrived at the 2016 Met Gala on a bus at the behest of designer Zac Posen, who didn’t want her to ruin her dress.
“Zac literally had a bus for me to get here, so I stood,” Danes told Vanity Fair. While at first glance, Danes’ dress appeared to be an ordinary baby-blue gown, with the lights turned off, the true magic of the dress was revealed.
Made of organza and fiber optics, the dress glows in the dark, making Danes look like a modern Cinderella.
Zendaya at the 2018 Met Gala ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination’
The inspiration for Zendaya’s look at the 2018 Met Gala came in the form of a dream, when her stylist Law Roach dreamt of the Catholic icon, Joan of Arc, and immediately went to Versace to see what dress could be made in honor of the saint.
The final look is a homage to Joan of Arc, with Versace designing a custom gown complete with armor-detailing and plenty of chain-mail, with Zendaya wearing a bob wig, nodding to Joan of Arc’s hairstyle. She finished the look with a pair of chrome platform heels.
Kim Kardashian at the 2019 Met Gala ‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’
At the 2019 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian turned heads when she arrived on the red carpet looking like she had just come out of a pool.
Thierry Mugler designed a custom “wet dress”, complete with crystal water droplets sewn throughout the entirety of the dress, down the arms, and even on the shoes.
The skin-colored dress was designed exclusively for Kardashian, who wore it with her hair and skin slicked in oil to mimic that “just came out of the ocean” look.
Cardi B in Chenpeng Studio in 2023
Cardi B paid homage to Karl Lagerfeld by wearing a custom creation by Chenpeng Studio at last year’s Met gala. With the iconic white shirt and tie, pearl earrings and grey hair as a nod to the late German designer, who passed away in February 2019.
How can I watch the 2024 Met Gala red carpet?
Celebrities and the darlings of the fashion world will be in the spotlight before the gala gets underway at 6 p.m. ET. The red carpet event will be streamed live on Vogue’s official website (www.vogue.com), as well as on their social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can also follow the gala live on the online entertainment channel E!
In the days after the event, Vogue will be publishing several photo galleries with images showing red carpet looks, gala highlights, interviews and reels.
The 2024 Met Gala will take place on Monday 6 May at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Fashion enthusiasts old and young alike will already have the date marked in red in their diary.