The first Monday of May has come around and gone again, which means designers and celebrities, influencers and socialites once more gathered at the Metropolitan Museum in New York to celebrate extravagant art in the form of fashion, displayed at MET’s Costume Institute and on this year’s green-beige carpet.
The four co-chairs that joined Anna Wintour in hosting the event this year were American actress/singer Zendaya, American actress/singer Jennifer Lopez, Australian actor Chris Hemsworth and Puerto Rican rapper/singer Bad Bunny, while Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew were named honorary chairs.
The theme of the spring 2024 exhibition was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” and, according to British Vogue, consisted of “50 historically significant pieces that are too fragile to ever be worn again”, ranging from the 17th to the 21st century. However the dress code slightly differed from the exhibition – it was inspired by JG Ballard’s short story “The Garden in Time”, which is about a Count and his wife, who live in an unnamed paradise in a villa that overlooks a garden of crystalline flowers with translucent leaves. The dystopian twist to the story is that their home is at risk of invasion by a furious mob, and to avoid seizure, the Count has to pluck flowers until there are none left. It ends with the Count and his Countess entangled in thorny plants in a decimated, and run-down estate.
A similar dystopian twist occurred concurrent with the Met Gala in real life – while A-listers were fixing their gowns, suits, hair and makeup in the Western World, people in the East were forced to fight for their lives once again, as the Israeli government started bombing Rafah, a Palestinian city that was meant to be a safe zone for civilians trying to escape the war. An even more shocking twist — not a single person who was interviewed on the carpet seemed to acknowledge what was happening. And yes, it is argued that the Met Gala is a non-political event and that it is not the right place to make a statement, but I would like to argue that powerful, influential people with a platform that can reach an audience of millions should use said platform whenever they can. There is never a right time to address fear, suffering and death, but it must be spoken about.
So while I am going to share with you my personal best-dressed of the 2024 Met Gala, I am also asking you to please educate yourself, to spread awareness, boycott certain brands/companies/events that financially support war, and to donate to charities and funds if you can. Just because we were not invited to walk the green-beige carpet does not mean we cannot use our privilege and platforms to speak up about things that actually matter.
The best-dressed – a list…
Influencer Emma Chamberlain channelled her inner goth in custom Jean Paul Gaultier with Cartier jewellery and even a customised mic that she used to interview attendees on the carpet. Gaultier’s inspiration was “fragility” and “decomposition”, and a mocha-coloured lace corset from the spring/summer 2003 couture show, called Morphing, which was the centrepiece for the whole design. The sharp brown lace is meant to allude to wild branches and uncontrollable nature.
Actress Alia Bhatt wore a handcrafted sari, featuring a 23-foot-long train that was hand-embroidered using silk floss, glass beading and gemstones, and a blouse studded with real gems by Indian designer Sabyasachi. Bhatt explained that, “the sari’s design, with its translucent, glass-like appearance is not just a nod to the ethereal quality of the garden in Ballard’s story but also a tribute to the exquisite, enduring craft of sari-making”. Sabyasachi also designed a bejewelled bralette for Bhatt, including emeralds, Basra pearls, tourmalines and sapphires, which is meant to reflect India’s rich heritage of jewellery.
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker came dressed in a birdcage-esque look by British designer Richard Quinn with jewellery by two New York jewellers, Briony Raymond and Marlo Laz, and an extravagant hat by Phillip Treacy. Parker admitted that she “had gone to the Sargent and Fashion exhibit at Tate Britain and been inspired by a few works of art there”, but that Richard Quinn and his spring/summer 2024 collection, which seemed to interpret the theme, captivated her attention. The essential part of the dress was the wireframe — “hand-cut lace is appliquéd over the frame, appearing to grow around it and adding a subtle floral element to the design. The crystals incorporate a level of hardness and unbreakableness, glistening across the fragile lace below”, Quinn told Vogue. The inspiration for Quinn’s design was the idea of preservation: “I have always been fascinated by the enduring beauty of archival clothing from times gone by. With this dress, we wanted to play on the idea of preservation; the dress appears so fragile as to be almost ephemeral, but, with care and consideration, it has been built to last.”
Musicians Dove Cameron and Damiano David both wore Diesel by designer Glenn Martens. Cameron’s floral gown consisted of 60 metres of tulle, chiffon and a train, which took over 20 hours to cut and over 40 hours to construct. David’s black suit featured lace cutouts on his chest and legs. Marten’s designs were meant to look like they were “left to decay in the woods.”
Gender-fluid fashion icon Harris Reed wore his own design, which debuted in the fall 2024 collection of the brand Nina Ricci. The look involved a silk pantsuit, a three-dimensional corset, a draped train and a halo lined with black arrows.
Musician Lana Del Rey brought her usual dark-romantic vibe to the Met in custom Alexander McQueen by Seán McGirr, which referenced an archival look from the house’s autumn/winter 2006 collection. The look included a corseted silk dress, double georgette, and tulle — all hand-embroidered with hammered bronze-bullion hawthorn branches, inspired by the patina and form of sculptures made by the Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti. For a dramatic finish, McGirr created a special headpiece for Del Rey, using natural hawthorn branches and draping them with a veil of sheer tulle.
Model Kendall Jenner told Vogue that she “made a dream list of who [she] would ideally want to go with, and [she] would have died to wear something by Alexander McQueen”, which is why she dove into his Givenchy archive and became the first person to ever wear one of McQueen’s autumn/winter 1999 looks for Givenchy Haute Couture, as the collection was presented on mannequins and never shown on the runway. “It’s been sleeping for the last 25 years. It’s a ‘sleeping beauty’,”, Jenner explained her decision to choose this certain look. Her shoes were custom Studio Amelia shoes, and the jewellery was by Lorraine Schwartz.
Musician Ariana Grande wore a custom Loewe dress, with a bustier of mother of pearl and a hand-pleated multi-layered silk chiffon skirt, designed by Jonathan Anderson. Anderson and his atelier looked to “sensorial craft techniques” and the beauty in nature — Grande’s skirt was designed to mimic the iridescence of the nacre mineral.
Formula 1 legend Sir Lewis Hamilton’s all-black Burberry look paid homage to John Ystumllyn, the first Black gardener in the UK. When Ystumllyn was about eight years old, he was abducted from his home in Africa to become a servant for an upper-class white family in Wales, where he embraced his natural abilities in horticulture. Hamilton pointed out a poem by Alex Wharton titled “The Gardener”, which was inspired by Ystumllyn’s life and stitched inside his cape. The thorns incorporated into his look were to represent the “pain” caused by the slavery trade.
“I hope the sun pours light upon our skin. And we melt into each other, into everything. Maybe the trees will speak, as they sometimes do. Whispers from the shade — Run, run away”, the excerpt inside his jacket read — and I appreciate that at least one of the 450 attendees dared to somehow make a statement, without actually making one.
Written by Vicky Madzak // Cover design by Hope Kensall
GEM Magazine 