Wedding Vibes and Butterfly Feelings Propel Celebs From the Carlyle Hotel to the Met Gala
Guests including gala cohost Chris Hemsworth, Riley Keough, Penélope Cruz, Sydney Sweeney, Ayo Edebiri and more got ready for the event at the Carlyle Hotel.
“I feel like it’s my wedding,” said
Lily James. It was just past 4:30 p.m. on Monday night, and the actress emerged in the Carlyle Hotel lobby to a crowd of eager photographers.
James was one of the first Met Gala guests to set out for the museum red carpet. She was soon followed by gala cochair Chris Hemsworth, who walked through the lobby hand-in-hand with wife Elsa Pataky, sneezing as he passed the pots of cherry blossoms. Allergies weren't about to stop Hemsworth from debuting his Tom Ford suit to the crowd of fans waiting outside on Madison Avenue.
Luca Guadagnino and Jonathan
Anderson walked through the lobby to join “Challengers” stars Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, who turned a right coming out of the elevator toward the Carlyle bar, opting for a more low-key side exit en route to the Met.
“Happy Met!” said Greta Lee, breezing past in her Loewe dress.
“I'm very happy to be here, Met Gala 2024! I'm wearing Marni,” said Rita Ora, turning to husband Taika Waititi. “We're ready to go to the carpet.”
Dwyane Wade, in a lilac Versace suit, stopped for a quick glam touchup in the lobby.
“I'm really excited tonight,” said Brooklyn Beckham, dressed in a white
Dior suit. “It should be fun. It's my third or fourth time, so I'm really excited to see Anna [Wintour], see the gorgeous dresses. Honestly I don't know what to expect,
I'm just so excited, I have that butterfly feelings, so I'm excited.”
In the corner of the lobby, a live painter was capturing the scene on canvas. Pretty soon, there was a lot to paint, as celebrities including Riley Keough, Penélope Cruz, Sydney Sweeney, Sarah Paulson, Camila Cabello, Ayo Edebiri, Ambika Mod, Michelle Williams, Kylie Minogue, Keke Palmer, Kendall Jenner, Omar Apollo,
Jude Law, Awkwafina and Andrew Scott made their way outside and into their
SUVs waiting to take them the remaining few blocks uptown to the Met red carpet. Char Defrancesco, Marc Jacobs' husband, strolled by in a full tux, with a pair of Nike dunks in hand.
“We gotta wait for the car though, otherwise I'll just be standing there,” said Taraji P. Henson as she queued up with designer Jonathan Simkhai just inside the hotel revolving doors. “Causing a stir.”
“Prada, Prada, Prada,” said Amanda Seyfried, asked who she was wearing as she posed at the bottom of the lobby steps.
Brie Larson was also dressed in a Prada look, which featured a geometric hoop skirt that extended out from her gown, as was poet Amanda Gorman, by now a Met Gala regular. “I'm ready to rumble,” she said, waiting patiently for her departure turn.
Some departures were more mysterious, leaving their reveal for the Met Gala steps — one unknown guest left the hotel underneath the cloak of a floorlength fringed umbrella.
“Alright — let's do it,” said Awkwafina, wearing a look by H&M, as she approached the front doors.
Eiza González was busy crowdsourcing an essential. “Does anyone have ibuprofen?” González called out to the lobby as she waited to make her exit. “Tylenol, por favor.”
There was a brief lull in the lobby, before Hari Nef walked out to cheering from the room. “Is it time?” asked Nef, glancing around. “Are we good? OK.”