This year’s theme was “The Garden of Time”, inspired by JG Ballard’s 1962 story but above all by the exhibition that opens on Friday, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”, and the guests interpreted it literally
A riot of flowers, but also of transparencies, crystals and nudity. The Met Gala 2024 did not betray the expectations of the day before and saw a crowd of celebrities dressed (more or less) in eccentric outfits designed to capture the . This year’s theme was “The Garden of Time”, inspired by JG Ballard’s 1962 story but above all by the exhibition which opens on Friday, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion“, and the guests interpreted it literally, with clothes that referred to the awakening of nature in spring, to fairies and magical creatures of the woods or even to the passage of time.
In this sense, the looks of Demi Moore, beautiful in a heart-shaped Japanese floral sculpture-dress created by Harris Reed; and of Tyla: the South African singer-songwriter wore a spectacular creation by Balmain literally made of sand, with an hourglass carried like a handbag to underline the concept of the passage of time. A very delicate but above all very tight dress, which required the intervention of four assistants who lifted her up the stairs. Same thing happened to Kim Kardashian, the “queen” of the Met Gala, who once again “squeezed” herself into a silver dress from the Haute Couture ‘Artisanal’ collection by Maison Margiela designed by John Galliano: what literally took her breath away was the corset woven with a precious antique silver brocade which then flowed into a mermaid skirt in silver metal and mirrors worked with motifs of flowers, leaves and twigs. To complete the look, a gray cashmere heart-warming cardigan. Is exactly Galliano was the real protagonist of the evening: self Anna Wintour did not have the courage to dedicate this edition of the Met Gala to him, preferring a quiet anthological exhibition on the evolution of fashion, he he still took center stage on the red carpet with his creations.
Yes, because in addition to Kim Kardashian alsoand Zendaya chose to wear one of her dresses: the actress was the co-guest of the evening and wanted to get all the flashes with a double turn on the red carpet, making her debut with one of the most iconic dresses of Galliano. It is a blue and black one-shoulder dress with applications that refer to nature that Galliano created for Margiela quoting himself, in particular his collection of Haute Couture for Dior in 1999. The other dress of the star of Challengers it was instead an archive item from the spring 1996 collection of the French brand Givenchy also designed by Galliano: an imposing black Victorian-style dress accompanied by a hat of silk flowers designed by Philip Tracy for Alexander McQueen in 2006. Rain of flashes too for the other godmother of the evening, Jennifer Lopezwho instead chose a creation by Schiaparelli: for her too, a very tight dress decorated with silver leaves that almost looked like a second skin. Passed with full marks. Great transparencies that left little to the imagination for Emily Ratajkowski too, with a nude Versace archive dress with a cascade of crystals. Lace, lace and ‘I see – I don’t see’ for Dua Lipa in Marc Jacobs And Kendall Jenner in a vintage Givenchy from 1999.
Simple but extremely chic Kaia Gerber in Prada with pearl white sequin scales and Gigi Hadidwho sported a dress by Thom Browne decidedly spectacular mermaid with rouge studded with millions of microbeads with yellow flowers and green thorns. Decidedly good tone Sarah Jessica Parkerthe iconic Carrie of Sex and the Citywith a highly structured midi dress by Richard Quinn studded with pearls and crystals and completed with a maxi organza hat: a modern (and very refined) Alice in Wonderland. Sleeping Beauty instead went gothic with Penelope Cruz, very sophisticated in a black lace dress by Chanel, with a bodice and fluffy maxi skirt. Then there are those who definitely got carried away with the train, like Isabelle Huppert (sheathed in a monumental 1930s Belenciaga satin wedding dress) and Cardi B. in black Giambattista Valli. Beautiful despite the unmemorable dress Nicole Kidman, always a true diva: the white dress with maxi skirt with black tulle rouge insert seemed to come from Cruella DeMon’s wardrobe but in reality it is a creation immortalized in a 1951 shot by Richard Avedon that she had recreated.
Now let’s get to the failures. He doesn’t pass the test Lana Del Ray, who chose for the occasion a pink tulle mosquito net dress with veil and branches: here too, it is a remake of a not very successful Alexander McQueen creation. Not only that: her imposing headdress created many problems for her, making her the protagonist of ‘memes’ which immediately went viral on the web. Very bad Rita Ora in Marni, who walked the red carpet essentially naked, covered only by a veil of flesh-colored lycra and a band of colored fringed beads that left very little to the imagination. She has choose Marni also Nicki Minaj, who wore a yellow minidress with showy metallic floral decorations applied: too much is too much, as we know. Cascades of flowers also for Jessica Serfaty and Jordan Roth. The tennis star also did badly Serena Williams, wrapped in 25 meters of Rocher chocolate paper, sorry, of gold laminated fabric by Balenciaga. A ‘foil’ effect instead for the actress Michelle Yeoh, with a custom-made Balenciaga Couture bustier dress made of aluminum fibre.
How can we not mention, last but not least, the landlady, the director of Vogue Anna Wintour: the journalist showed off a black Loewe coat with cascades of flowers perfectly in her style, worn over a simple silver satin sheath dress embellished with a showy diamond necklace.
