The Met Gala – Humanity in Art Form

The 78^th annual Met Gala took place yesterday, May 4^th, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, specifically in the new Condé M. Nast Galleries. The theme was Costume Art with the dress code being "Fashion is Art".

For some cosmic, devastating, and maybe even a bit naive way, I did not hear that Zendaya would not be attending. In my defence, the oldest news report I could find covering this was only 2 days ago.  

Despite my broken heart, I digress.  

This year’s Met Gala was almost as gorgeous and powerful as I had imagined. I won’t lie, there were a few looks that I thought could have been more developed. Nonetheless, it was an event that was constructed from the creative roots of designers, artists, and the crème de la crème of high society.   

Fashion is Art 

Fashion is a direct response to current events, extreme emotions, and cultural trends. With this year’s Met Gala theme being Costume Art, with an emphasis on the relationship between fashion and art.  

The anatomical body was also a heavily explored and interpreted theme with the exhibit, curated by Andrew Bolton, focusing on the different body's stages such as the “Naked Body”, “Classical Body”, “Pregnant Body”,and the “Aging Body”. 

Based on the exhibition theme, I immediately assumed naked dress was going to be trending. And when I first opened YouTube to watch the show, I was met with no other than the beautiful co-host of the livestream, Ashley Graham. She was wearing a dress by Greek designer Dimitra Petsa of Di Petsa. The dress was a nude-coloured sheer dress that she actually had to be sewn into.

Obviously, the dress was perfectly fit to showcase the curves and outline of Graham's body. The dress had snakeskin-like draping and was topped off by dying her fingertips in a metallic silver shade to embody the characteristics of a serpentine second skin.  

Another notable naked dress was Doja Cat, who wore a monochromatic outfit designed by YSL. The dress was made of silicone, which gave the long dress a wavy and glossy appearance.  

Nicole Kidman was the co-host of the event and wore a custom Chanel gown designed by Matthieu Blazy. The dress was a long-sleeved, high-neckline, crimson sequined gown with extravagant and dramatic feathered cuffs.  

Kidman told the livestream in an interview with actress La La Anthony, that the colour was symbolic to the way red has been used in art to represent love, motherhood, power and vitality.  

From Museums to the Met Gala Carpet  

Not too long ago, I was at the Uffizi in Florence. The gallery itself is astonishing and reminded me why life is so precious and beautiful, but I was there on a mission. I was there to see Artemisia Gentileschi’s version of Judith Beheading Holofernes.  

Judith Beheading Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi at Uffizi Gallery, Florence

If you don’t know, Gentileschi was one of the only (if not the only) woman painters of that time. The painting itself is a depiction of Judith decapitating Holofernes, who was an army general about to take over her village.  

There are many different versions of this painting; in fact, Gentileschi has two versions. Some other artists who have painted it are Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, and my personal favourite, Caravaggio.  

I could go on and on about this painting and all the different versions of it, but to regroup, this painting by Gentileschi is a bloody, visceral and emotional depiction of the story from the bible.    

Lena Dunham took inspiration from this piece and wore a cherry-coloured full sequin dress with a feather neckline and feather train by Valentino. The dress was in reference to the blood splatter from the painting and showed exactly how fashion mimics art and creates the connection between different art forms.  

In my opinion, the dress itself looked a bit like a child dressing up but I love the meaning, and I love the reference.

I know the next one is a bit controversial because it is getting a lot of hate online. However, I think it was magnificent.

Heidi Klum, known for her unique outfits (mainly, her Halloween costumes), wore a statue- inspired gown made of latex and foam. She told Vogue livestream that the look was derived from the Veiled Vestal, a marble sculpture by Raffaelle Monti.  

Angela Bassett looked absolutely darling last night. Her dress was designed by Prabal Gurung. The dress was an ode to Harlem Renaissance painter, Laura Wheeler Waring. Bassett’s rose pink, floral gown referenced the painting by Waring called, Girl in a Pink Dress.  

I couldn’t mention all of these interpretations of classical artworks without mentioning Ms. Kendall Jenner. Say what you want about this reality tv and supermodel, but she has impeccable taste. 

Jenner wore a cream-coloured draping dress with a plunging leather bodice. The dress was designed by Zac Posen for GapStudio and inspired by the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which is a Greek sculpture done in 190 B.C. Inspired by the Goddess, Jenner told the Vogue livestream that “art is transcendent”.  

Move out of the way because Madonna showed up to this year’s Met Gala, accompanied by 7 other women who held her dress. The dress itself was a jet-black floor length wispy satin and lace gown designed by Saint Laurent. The look was inspired by The Temptation of St. Anthony by surrealist artist Leonora Carrington.  

Fashion Becomes Art 

The gasp I gasped when Beyonce came out on the carpet. She looked like a jewelled skeleton with a extravagant feather cape that covered the steps of the Met. 

The look was created by Olivier Rousteing and seems to be inspired by the anatomical body. There isn't much else to say about this look, it speaks for itself and is most definitely in running for my favourite look of the evening.  

Sabrina Carpenter took Sabrina to create her look. Her dress was custom Dior and is made from movie film. Inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s 1954 film Sabrina, the dress is an ode to different art forms, such as film rather than classical art. Nonetheless, this look was so creatively constructed that it spoke volumes to different interpretations of the theme.  

I loved, loved, LOVED the concept for Paloma Elsesser’s look. The dress itself was made from loads of different dresses from the 1920’s-1940’s. All of them were sourced from eBay (we love sustainability!!) and designed by Francesco Risso. The dress was a mix of cream, pastel tones, and glimpses of metallic. Overall, it gives the energy of a watercolour mermaid.  

Lisa Manobal in custom Robert Wun was easily one of my favourite looks. She wore a bridal-like white sheer dress with a Swarovski crystal-encrusted veil. The whole look had 66,960 Swarovski crystals embedded throughout and contained two 3D-printed arms of the singer.  

Honourable mentions include Serena Williams in a metallic dress and gold heels that wrapped around her legs, making her look like a warrior Goddess.  

I loved the architecture and engineering of Iris van Herpen on Olympian, Eileen Gu (very disappointed there were not more Iris van Herpen looks). The iridescent bubbles and the physical bubbles that blew from her dress was fun, unique and showed that fashion is a makeup of so many different creative forms. 

Gracie Abrams wore a delicate Chanel gown that was romantic, detailed and reminiscent of the Renaissance elegance. 

SZA in a yellow gown by Marc Jacobs, told Vogue that her dress was “human, vulnerable, and grounding”.

Fashion Emulates Humanity 

The Met Gala is arguably the biggest night in fashion. It permits attendees permission to showcase the opulence, creativity and debonair of the elite.  

I understand the politics of the Met Gala, there is no denying the drastic influence politics have on everything from the economy to fashion. However, this is not a blog that debates politics. I think it is important to acknowledge and to understand the relationship between fashion and politics, but overall fashion is the manipulation of perception and human consciousness.  

Fashion is a direct result of what is happening around us. Capsulating real and raw human emotion is what makes fashion have meaning. It is what separates and conjoins even the strongest of relationships and showcases it in a way that is meant to be remembered, meant to outlive generations and still embody the characteristics, emotions and events that kickstarted the inspiration.  

Making something worthy of the encapsulation of humanity is what art is. It doesn’t matter if it is a film, a painting or a dress. These pieces will live with us, after us and hopefully forever.