‘FEARLESS FASHION’ RULES AT MET GALA
America the beautiful was on full display.
The entertainment world’s biggest stars embraced the theme of “In America” at Monday’s Met Gala, paying homage to American styles and ideals, with many wearing U.S. designers at the famed fashion extravaganza at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Less than 24 hours after appearing in a shapeless black sweater at the Video Music Awards in Brooklyn, singer Billie Eilish tossed her sweats and channeled old Hollywood glamour in an ethereal beige gown.
She said the outfit was inspired by the holiday line of Barbie dolls that she grew up loving. “Honestly, genuinely, that was my inspiration,” Eilish told host Keke Palmer during a red carpet interview that aired on Vogue’s online broadcast.
Pop star Lil Nas X, meanwhile, shimmered in a sparkling gold body suit by Versace, smiling as he described his outfit to Palmer as “really sexy, slutty.”
The “Old Town Road” artist also wore a regal, flowing, golden robe on the red carpet.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka honored her Japanese and Haitian roots with a colorful ensemble by Louis Vuitton.
“For me, American means a mix of all cultures,” Osaka said.
Kim Kardashian completely concealed her identity in a dark blue ensemble that covered her face and body. It was in great contrast to her half-sister Kendall Jenner, who wore a barely-there sheer gown with a silver outline.
Jennifer Lopez, who is no stranger to memorable Met Gala looks, wore a sleek black dress, matching fur coat and stylish hat with silver high heels.
And New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mixed politics and fashion, wearing a white gown demanding “tax the rich” in red on the back.
U.S. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles said her star-covered dress weighed 88 pounds, telling Palmer that she was “just having so much pride coming out here, representing Black girl magic.”
Monday marked the first Met Gala in more than two years. The annual event, which typically takes place on the first Monday of May, was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While organizers opted for what they described as a “more intimate” setting in 2021 than past galas, Monday’s event wasn’t short on star power, with Justin and Hailey Bieber, Jennifer Hudson, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Megan Thee Stallion, Kacey Musgraves, Chance the Rapper, Olivia Rodrigo, Channing Tatum and Saweetie among the glitterati.
Legendary Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour has run the Met Gala since 1995. The exclusive event is invitation-only, with Wintour telling James Corden in 2017 that former President Donald Trump is the celebrity she’d never ask back.
Wintour, who wore a flowery Oscar de la Renta dress, gushed over the up-andcoming American designers.
“They’re so creative,” Wintour told Palmer. “They’re so fearless . ... I think it’s a very hopeful sign for the future of American fashion.”
Timothée Chalamet, Eilish, Amanda Gorman and Osaka were the co-chairs of the event.
“It feels like a stupid honor, you know? A stupidly big honor,” Chalamet, whose outfit incorporated Chuck Taylor, Rick Owens and Haider Ackermann, said on the Vogue broadcast with a laugh. “Big honor, and trying to keep it respectful of the two years all of us just had, and not get too lost in the glamour of it because a lot of people were suffering.”
Attendees were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to go to the Met Gala.
Nicki Minaj said she declined. “They want you to get vaccinated for the Met,” the rapper tweeted. “If I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one.”
The often-ostentatious Met Gala serves as a fund-raiser for the museum, which will debut the first installment of its two-part “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” exhibition Saturday. Part two opens in May.
“It’s great that we’re celebrating American fashion, because I think maybe we don’t have the idea of American fashion as like cultural patrimony the way they do, for example, in France,” fashion historian Nancy Deihl, chairwoman of the art department at New York University, told the Daily News. “But things like this help us develop that, and I think it’s a really good mentality to grow into.”