It’s the first Tuesday in May, which I sometimes find even more exciting than the infamous first Monday in May: The MET Gala. The influx of outfits that rush down my feed overwhelm me so much that I find myself swiping through photos like I’m on a dating app, approving or rejecting couture gowns and millions of dollars of jewelry until I’ve consumed so much fashion, colored silhouettes flash when I close my eyes.
The day after though, is when I really channel my inner Miranda Priestly, in my sweatpants of course.
This year, the Met Gala’s dress code and its accompanying exhibition—the fashion display guests explore after the red carpet—were closely aligned, with the exhibit titled “Costume Art” and the dress code “Fashion Is Art.” It can sound confusingly vague, right? Well, Luke Meagher, explains “The costume institute… is all about examining clothing through a lens that we would use in the same way to examine art.” This idea becomes even more significant when considering the institute’s history, as Meagher adds, “Fashion at the Met has not always been the highest regarded. Historically, the Costume Institute has existed in the basement and that’s been almost a double entendre of how fashion is viewed in the realm of art, and in an institution like Met.”
This year’s theme is actually a lot more expansive than it might seem at first. With the exhibition Costume Art and the dress code Fashion Is Art, the Met Gala is pushing attendees to approach fashion as something conceptual rather than purely aesthetic. Instead of drawing from a single historical reference or visual motif, the theme centers on the idea that fashion exists within the same intellectual and cultural space as fine art. Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Costume Institute, reinforces this by explaining that clothing connects every corner of the museum, positioning the dressed body as a throughline across artistic disciplines. Because of that, the expectation isn’t just to match a theme, but to construct a look with intention, where the design, references, and execution all work together to communicate a clear idea.
Fashion has often been debated as to whether or not its art, usually because of its ties to commercialism or functionality. Anna Beth Mauldin argues, “Despite its artistic complexity and cultural significance, apparel design is often just dismissed as purely commercial.” Yet, “fashion is never just about fabric; it is legacy, movement, and meaning, which is why the supposed gap between fashion and art is continually questioned.” That’s what makes this year’s carpet so interesting, and it opens the door to explore my favorite and the most disruptive looks of the night.
sabrina carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter has been taking the world by storm these past three years, and part of her success is largely due to her solidifying her brand, pulling from the ’60s old Hollywood bombshells and ’70s disco divas. As iconic as this look has already become, I’ve been itching to see something new from Carpenter these past few months, but I wasn’t expecting her to stray from those inspirations at the Met Gala. So when she stepped onto the carpet draped in film reels (from the 1954 film Sabrina!!!), my jaw literally dropped. I love the intersection of fashion and film, two of my favorite art forms, and especially how it ties in fashion history with her ’20s-inspired headpiece and ’50s silhouettes. A dress made out of film reels is ingenious, and it’s the out-of-the-box creativity that Jonathan Anderson brought to Loewe that I feel we’ve been missing with him now at Dior.
rachel zegler
At only 25, Rachel Zegler is one of the, most of the time unintentionally, provocative celebrities of today. Whether it’s for her beautiful singing voice or her stances on current events, it seems like Zegler is always making headlines, which is why her Prabal Gurung white gown with matching blindfold is so much more poignant than one might believe. Zegler’s look is inspired by The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by French painter Paul Delaroche, depicting a 17-year-old Jane, who was the Queen of England for just nine days before being beheaded for treason. Zegler was introduced to Hollywood at just 17 in West Side Story, and has since often found herself blamed for the actions of her costars, while facing smear campaigns over her stance on Palestine and enduring racism. Transforming that kind of public scrutiny into a fashion statement reads as performance art if I’ve ever seen it.
anok yai
Someone you can always trust to bring it to the Met Gala are the supermodels themselves, and Anok Yai never disappoints. Anok didn’t so much strut the carpet as she stalked it, a weeping angel wrapped and cloaked in black, facing the cameras with an unwavering gaze. You can’t take your eyes off of her, she’s both a vision and a force. She’s the Black Madonna, and “In the climate that we’re living in right now, we need hope… I feel like being the Black Madonna in a Trump world is going to send that message,” Yai says. The makeup draws most clearly from Baroque religious portraiture, with its luminous, sculptural skin, dramatic light and shadow, and tear tracks that echo chiaroscuro and weeping Madonna imagery, all emphasizing the face as a site of emotion and meaning. In that way, her look reflects the theme by using the body not just as something to dress, but as a place where art, history, and symbolism come together.
hudson williams
Is a celebrity really a fashion icon if they’ve never had at least a few “hear me out” outfits? Hudson Williams debuted at the Met Gala in a custom Balenciaga look designed by Pierpaolo Piccioli. His powder-blue, matador-inspired suit pays homage to Cristóbal Balenciaga, and Williams certainly caught attention by wearing it shirtless. But the world’s crush aside, this choice actually fits the theme quite well: “In conception, ‘Costume Art’ is inclusive and collaborative, and the unifying theme is the human body and how it has been depicted—dressed, undressed, decorated, honored, injured, and mourned” (Vogue). William’s look and body work like a frame and a canvas. I’ve seen a mixed jury on this look, and as an outfit itself, it’s not my favorite, personally, but I appreciate the risk and respect that it does fit the dress code.
Beyond the clothes, his hair and makeup are also very intentional, with his groomer and MUA, Aika Flores, crediting the 2010 film Black Swan as inspiration. Flores told Harper’s Bazaar, “I was inspired by the idea of transformation —a journey where innocence gives way and grace takes on a darker edge,” Flores says. “It’s like the white swan shedding its softness to become something sharper, untouchable, and entirely reborn.”
Similarly to Zegler, I feel like this also touches on Williams’s own life and experience being rocketed into fame. In just a year, Williams went from having 400 followers on Instagram to starring in a global phenomenon, attending the Oscars, and the Met Gala. He truly has transformed before our very eyes. Whether you love or hate it, Hudson has people talking through and about fashion, and what more could you ask for from a Met Gala debut?