Jared Leto as Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette at the 2023 Met Gala

The Met Gala is a theme-based fashion event where celebrities portray their best interpretation of the set theme. The 2023 Met Gala was an homage to the late fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld, and many chose to dress in styles and looks that the designer was best known for.

Jared Leto decided the best way to pay homage to Lagerfeld was to dress up as none-other than his beloved cat, Choupette, wearing a costume of the famous cat.

Other celebrities, such as Doja Cat and Lil Nas X, also paid homage to the luxurious cat with their looks last night.

A top-secret project

Project manager Joshua Balster of the company who designed the giant cat costume, SCPS Unlimited, says the idea for the costume came to them just four weeks before the Met Gala was to take place.

“We are known for being very tight-knit and not letting anything out,” Balster told the Guardian. SCPS’s other clients include Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars.

Once the company found out that the client for this project was none other than Jared Leto, they were ecstatic.

“We love what Jared does on the red carpet – he’s always super creative,” they said, particularly in reference to the actor’s 2019 look where he held a replica of his own head as an accessory.

To design the feline costume, the company employed a much smaller team than usual to prevent word from spreading around.

“Because that was the big punchline – Jared wanted it to be super secret, and not let anyone know who the cat was until he revealed himself,” Balster explained.

The vision

Leto’s vision for the costume was to not have it end up looking like a mascot, which tend to look cartoony and unrealistic. Leto wanted a realistic depiction of the white tortie Birman cat with stunning blue eyes.

“He wanted it to be like a real cat,” Balster noted, resulting in the team studying every publicly available picture of the feline.

“I think I’ve seen every single one that’s out there,” he joked.

The final costume was made with synthetic fur and painted to catch all the details in Choupette’s fur, with white and gold, and gray bits throughout.

To keep Leto from melting in the costume, a battery-powered fan was put in place for the face.

And since it wasn’t realistic for Leto to wear the costume all night, it was also designed with cut-away seams to make it easy for him to reveal his second outfit, an all-black look complete with a cape and embellished epaulets on the shoulders.