The annual Met Gala, with this year’s theme honoring the late fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, has drawn the entire fashion world to New York City once more.
Pearls, starched collars, and black and white were worn to the event, which is famous for its star-studded guest list and ostentatious attire.
Around 400 people attended the Costume Institute’s invitation-only fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lagerfeld’s cat received special recognition as well. There were at least two celebrities dressed as Choupette.
For this year’s theme – “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” – attendees were asked to wear clothes “in honor of Karl”.
For decades, Lagerfeld was at the helm of some of the biggest-name fashion houses in the world, including Chanel and Fendi.
The designer, who died in 2019 at the age of 85, wore dark sunglasses with his white hair pulled back into a ponytail most of the time. He was frequently photographed with Choupette, his famously pampered pet.
This year’s co-chairs include retired tennis star Roger Federer, Grammy-winning songstress Dua Lipa, actress Penélope Cruz, and writer, actor, and producer Michaela Coel, as well as Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Brittney Griner, the WNBA basketball star who was imprisoned in Russia, attended the event with her wife on Monday night.
Two celebrities, Karlie Kloss and Serena Williams, used the occasion to announce their pregnancies.
The Metropolitan Museum’s Great Hall was decorated with 275,000 pink roses last year. However, the decorations pale in comparison to the outfits worn by celebrities as they enter the event.
The red carpet and the lavish outfits of those in attendance draw a lot of attention, with Kim Kardashian wearing a $4.8 million (£3.84 million) rhinestone-studded dress once worn by Marilyn Monroe last year.
Kardashian wore a Schiaparelli design dripping in pearls this year, inspired by a visit to the Karl Lagerfeld office in Paris last week, where she said she was getting “a little inspiration for the Met.”
“I just wanted to feel glamorous,” she told Vogue on the red carpet. “I wanted pearls – what is more Karl”.
Her sisters Kylie and Kendall were also in attendance.
Individual tickets for the event this year are priced at $50,000, with tables beginning at $300,000.
Actresses Priyanka Chopra and Elle Fanning, Brooklyn, and Nicola Peltz-Beckham and singer Rita Ora and her husband Taika Waititi also attended.
Rapper Lil Nas X arrived looking like some sort of mythical creature, clad in pearls and painted silver.
Embattled actor Jonathan Majors had been slated to attend as a guest of Valentino, but “mutually agreed” with the fashion house not to attend on the heels of assault charges stemming from a March incident.
Choupette was another notable invitee who was not in attendance this year – although pop star Doja Cat and actor Jared Leto both dressed like the feline.
“Many people invited me to walk the red carpet of the Met Gala 2023 in tribute to Daddy, but we preferred to stay cosy and at home,” said a post on the cat’s official Instagram page. “We pay tribute to my Daddy every day since his parting and we are very moved to see one more day dedicated to him.”
