The future is now! While ‘People’ and ‘Us Weekly’ may live for the Academy Awards red carpet, true fashionistas know that the Met Gala (official name: Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit) is the real night when the stars shine in the most avante garde fashions. And this year, the Met Gala celebrated innovation with the theme ‘Fashion In The Age Of Technology’ to coincide with the opening of the MMA’s ‘Manus x Machina’ (Man Meets Machine) exhibit.
The event is hosted by ‘Vogue’ magazine and its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is a major figure at each event, approving each attendee. Proceeds from the event go to benefit the Costume Institute. Tickets were $30,000 a piece and YES, the celebrities in attendance paid… or at least someone did on their behalf. Last year, roughly 600 people attended, so you do that math. This year’s Gala was co-hosted by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, Miuccia Prada, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière and pop star Taylor Swift.
As for most red carpets, there were hits and misses. Check out a sampling of what the stars wore below:
Co-host Taylor Swift showed off her recently chopped platinum blonde bob which has received mixed reviews. Her black lipstick gave her edge and her short metallic dress by Louis Vuitton fit the futuristic theme. Her strappy shoes are a bit over the line and make her appear like the good girl that’s trying too hard to be a bad girl.
If anyone fits the bill of this event, it’s Lady Gaga and she delivered! Dressed in Atelier Versace, Gaga rocked big hair, and a sports jacket and leotard over fishnets that took fans back to her ‘Just Dance’ days, just with a futuristic ‘Bad Romance’ spin.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West turned up in a tin foil update of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s matchy-matchy denim outfits from the MTV VMAs circa 2001. While Kim’s metallic gown by Balmain fit the bill, detractors have compared her look to a Jiffy Pop popcorn bag. (Only kids born before 1990 will get that reference.) Kanye’s jacket also fits the bill, but his ripped jeans and casual shoes were inappropriate for such a high fashion event. And those blue contacts? What?
And speaking of… LEGEND Madonna is a regular fixture at this event… but the last few years, her fashion choices have been nearly universally panned. This year, her look was designed by Givenchy and exposed her breasts and her butt. But, her last single was called “Bitch I’m Madonna”, so it probably doesn’t matter what anyone thought.
With a much more subtle take on the future, Nicole Kidman sported Alexander McQueen in this dreamy celestial gown and cape, decorated with images of heavenly bodies… covering her heavenly body.
Versace designed former One Direction member Zayn Malik’s Bruce Wayne-meets-Tony Stark armored tuxedo. But the “Pillow Talk” singer’s look was perhaps the most futuristic of the night when it came to menswear.
Beyoncé has the distinction of being the last person to hit the Met Gala runway each year, so Queen Bey must deliver! She wore a Givenchy latex gown with hand embellishments, which broke away from the robotic look that many delivered. But latex does not breathe, so if you want to know what Beyoncé sweat smells like (probably “Lemonade”), maybe you were lucky enough to stand near her that night.
But the show-stopper was ‘Homeland’ star Claire Danes who arrived in what looked like a classy, demure princess gown. The gown, designed by Zac Posen, was made of fiber optics that lit up. Check out the videos that Posen posted on Instagram:
Magic moments!! Zacposen #metgala #clairedanes A video posted by @zacposen on
What do you think of the future of fashion? Are these looks ones that normal people could adopt every day?
Jason wears a lot of metallic, shiny clothes. Maybe he’s a robot. You can follow him on Twitter.
