Irina Shayk arrived as a goddess, Heidi Klum transformed into a marble statue, and Bad Bunny aged decades in a single night – as the annual Met Gala in New York embraced the theme “Fashion is Art.” From Madonna’s surrealist tableau to Cardi B’s provocative homage, the red carpet became a living gallery of wearable masterpieces.
The theme and first transformations
The theme of this year’s Met Gala in New York was “Fashion is Art,” inspiring most celebrated guests to reference great artistic masterpieces. Some went further, calling themselves “a canvas for the designers” invited to create their looks.
Irina Shayk, Heidi Klum, Madonna
Irina Shayk, alongside fellow model Alex Consani, opted for a naked look. She wore a revealing bustier crafted from precious stones and wristwatches, paired with a black low-rise long skirt by Alexander Wang.
Heidi Klum, the queen of Halloween transformations, recreated Raphael Monti’s marble sculpture The Vestal Virgin, depicting a priestess of Vesta beneath a translucent veil. The custom look was created by American make-up artist Mike Marino.
Madonna, 67, took inspiration from Leonora Carrington’s painting The Temptation of St Anthony and chose a Saint Laurent gown. She posed in a black dress whose transparent train was carried by seven blindfolded women in lace eye coverings, with a ship on her head. Beside her stood her young fiancé, 30-year-old Akeem Morris.
Bad Bunny, Emma Chamberlain, Cardi B
Bad Bunny shocked the crowd by appearing as an old man, thanks to realistic prosthetics by make-up artist Mike Marino. His outfit referenced the Costume Institute’s exhibition, which explores representations of the human body in art over the past 5,000 years.
Emma Chamberlain stunned in a custom Mugler dress, hand-painted by artist Anna Deller-Yee at the guest’s request. The Vogue correspondent’s gown perfectly suited the evening’s dress code. Deller-Yee said she used only traditional art materials, not specialised fabric paint, working with roughly 30 base colours for 40 hours – mixing them individually – and then letting the design dry on the fabric for four days.
Cardi B, never one to shy away from the outrageous, stayed true to her style. She appeared in a sheer, figure-hugging Marc Jacobs dress with lace and enormous ruffles on the hem and shoulders. The design was inspired by German artist and sculptor Hans Bellmer, who in the 1930s created erotic mannequins with broken limbs for his Dolls project.
Sombr, other stars, Kim Kardashian
Another debutant, singer Shane Michael Buz (known as Sombr), wore a custom suit and sparkling cape by Valentino, requiring over 500 hours of work. “I wanted to become a “canvas with my own point of view” for Alessandro Michele’s creativity,” he told Vogue. “Fashion is art, and art is emotion. The idea and the result were pure emotion.”
Other standout guests included a resplendent Rihanna, Ciara as an Egyptian goddess, and a heavily masked Katy Perry – seemingly channelling an AI aesthetic.
Kim Kardashian worked with artists Allen Johnson and Whitaker Malem. Inspired by the 1975 BDSM-themed film The Mistress, they created a bright orange bodysuit with cone-shaped cups and an open-front leather skirt.
Kylie Jenner, Hudson Williams, Beyoncé
Kylie Jenner, whose partner Timothée Chalamet missed the gala, chose Schiaparelli. She wore an unbuttoned crystal-covered dress over a nude bodysuit with protruding “nipples”. The dress required some 11,000 hours of embroidery, using 2,000 crystals, 10,000 natural pearls and more than 7,000 mother-of-pearl fish scales.
Hudson Williams, star of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, debuted in a Balenciaga suit. Ever the provocateur, he walked the carpet in a jacket worn open on a bare chest, with red-and-blue arrows around his eyes – inspired, he said, by Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller Black Swan starring Natalie Portman.
Beyoncé attended the Met Gala after a ten-year break – not only as a guest but as co-chair. She appeared in a creation by French designer Olivier Rousteing: gloves and a transparent dress with diamond appliqués mimicking a human skeleton, completed by a fluffy cape and a radiant spiked crown.
Sabrina Carpenter, A$AP Rocky and Rihanna
Pop star Sabrina Carpenter showcased her creativity in a Dior dress adorned with strips of film stock from the 1954 film Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn. Her memorable look was accessorised with Chopard jewellery: earrings, a headpiece with large sparkling stones, and rings with long delicate chains.
As tradition dictates, rapper A$AP Rocky arrived with Rihanna near the end of the evening. Commentators suggested his pink outfit was a tribute to his new role as a father to a daughter. However, this time fans were unimpressed, and the couple faced harsh criticism on social media for their red-carpet choices.
