The best red carpet fashions from Met Gala 2024, ‘The Garden of Time’
2024 Met Gala Co-chair Zendaya shows she can work a look in a swirl of blue and black dripping with fruits of the garden from Maison Margiela by John Galliano. The benefit, celebrating the exhibit “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, took place Monday in New York City.
(Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
In certain circles, the words “the first Monday in May” and “the Met Gala” have become synonymous with a parade of the most glorious, outrageous couture fashion worn by a hand-selected slice of innovators and image makers.
The event is also the annual fundraiser for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute and signals the launch of an annual exhibition. This year’s, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” features about 250 items from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection.
The dress code for the 2024 gala is “The Garden of Time,” taken from a dystopian 1962 short story by J.G. Ballard that uses a garden as a metaphor for cycles of human creation and destruction. So expect some goth garden wear and lots of florals on black backgrounds.
Last year’s gala, in honor of Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, hauled in a reported $22 million and reams of coverage of attendees such as Doja Cat and Jared Leto, both of whom dressed as Lagerfeld’s Persian cat Choupette.
Ahead of the Met Gala, here is everything you need to know about the biggest night in fashion, including how to stream it, the theme and the guest list.
Many attribute the gala’s success to its organizer of more than two decades, the powerful Anna Wintour, who as global editorial director of Condé Nast and editor in chief of Vogue has long been a force in creating international celebrities. Wintour controls who is invited to the invitation-only event.
The gala earns outsize interest partly because its guest list isn’t revealed until the night before and the activities inside the museum gala are also kept secret (thanks to a no cellphones policy).
Yet the event also draws attention to the exhibition, which this year highlights the importance of museum fashion collections and their conservation. “Sleeping Beauties” refers to the delicate garments that will be taken from their temperature-controlled, acid-free tissue nests to come to life in new ways in the museum galleries — but not on mannequins. Using a range of technologies such as X-rays, artificial intelligence, video animation and soundscapes, the curators are reanimating garments that will never be worn again.
Or shouldn’t be. One might consider the exhibit a subtle rebuke to Kim Kardashian, who in 2022 wore — and likely ruined — the fragile gown Marilyn Monroe wore to sing to President John F. Kennedy in 1962. If stylists, celebrities and socialites heed the message to let sleeping beauties lie, then important, historic clothing has a better chance of preservation for future generations.
Going for the goth floral look, Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue and a Condé Nast executive, shows how to modernize antique clothing by having Loewe designer Jonathan Anderson create a cloak with a similar tulip pattern to one in the Met’s collection. Loewe is among the sponsors for the gala and exhibit.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Ayo Edebiri blooms in a backless, floor-length sweep of floral embellishment, designed by Jonathan Anderson for Loewe. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Dan Levy, who is always good for some levity, wears a Loewe ensemble that flows from serious, solid black on top to all-over fun floral toward the jacket’s hem and along the trousers. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Advertisement
Emma Chamberlain, in a custom Jean Paul Gaultier gown in lacy, rich brown, looks as if vines have entwined her limbs, a sly nod to the gala’s garden theme.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Jennifer Lopez dons a silvery Schiaparelli sheer gown embellished with 2.5 million bugle beads that is vintage JLo: She practically invented the trend for wearing nude-look gowns on red carpets. But it’s the butterfly wing edging at the neckline that brings the drama.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Singer-songwriter Tyla took the “Garden of Time” theme to its literal extreme with her Balmain dress made of sculpted sand, accessorized with an hourglass clutch.(Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images)
Her height and love of theatricality make Gwendoline Christie the perfect fit for a sort of evil godmother look by Maison Margiela. Her stiff, winged hairstyle is a great fantasy accompaniment to her sheer black cape over a blood-red strapless gown.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
If you love visual puns, you’ll love how “Challengers” star Josh O’Connor wears a tailcoat with extended “tails” that drag the carpet. His low-heel, floral booties are likely the envy of every woman in heels. (Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Steven Yeun’s character in “Beef” wouldn’t recognize himself on the Met’s carpet. He’s wearing a custom Thom Browne three-piece suit cut from a jacquard fabric with a pattern of ravens and roses. (Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images)
Actor Colman Domingo went through awards season killing it with every red carpet appearance and now he’s showing how to properly slay wearing a cape, no superhero role required. His bouquet of calla lilies brings home the gala’s garden theme.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Advertisement
2024 Met Gala Co-chair Chris Hemsworth and his wife, Elsa Pataky, coordinate in ivory and gold looks by Tom Ford.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Rebecca Ferguson goes for the spooky look in a Thom Browne couture gown and cape ensemble that reportedly needed 30 craftsmen, who worked thousands of hours to cover it with ravens made of raffia and 60,000 crystals. The genius bit? The beading at the shoulders that looks so like feathers.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Lea Michele, who appeared on Broadway in “Funny Girl,” wouldn’t be out of place in the Ziegfeld Follies wearing a voluminous aqua gown and cape by the Pasadena natives behind Rodarte.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Met Gala Co-chair Bad Bunny wears a suit with the tailor’s basting stitches still visible, a hallmark of Maison Margiela, now designed by John Galliano. The Puerto Rican singer carries a bouquet, a nod to the gala’s floral dress code. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Designer Thom Browne is having a great showing at this year’s Met Gala, even dressing Ben Simmons of the Brooklyn Nets in a customized version of a look from the designer’s fall 2024 collection. The clock handbag brings home the “Garden of Time” theme. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Jamie Dornan may play sexy bad boys, but with his pinstriped trousers, knee-length tailcoat and nubby vest, he’s giving Winston Churchill vibes.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Among the many men who are adding adornment to their lapels (a trend that gained ground during recent award shows), actor Mike Faist (“Challengers”) pins a radish-shaped brooch on his Loewe double-breasted blazer, which he paired with white trousers.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Advertisement
Director Baz Luhrmann and his wife, Catherine Martin, an Oscar-winning costume and production designer, coordinate in custom Prada in garden shades of green.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Designer Tory Burch channeled the iridescent wings of butterflies for Uma Thurman’s periwinkle dress, which features a corset, intricate pleats and a profusion of the delicate (faux) insects fluttering at her shoulders.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
It’s hard to say what’s bigger, Cardi B’s tall turban, her emerald pendant or her gown’s black tulle skirt that took eight ushers to arrange to photographic perfection.
(Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images)
Broadway veterans and married couple Morgan Spector and Rebecca Hall go big, really big, with the floral theme. His is an oversized Willy Chavarría suit with lapel poppies and hers an ethereal Danielle Frankel strapless silk organza gown with a train of printed and hand-painted flowers flowing yards behind her.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
With a name like Lily James, we might expect the actor to wear lilies, but she went for black tulips on pale pink in her Erdem gown with a corseted bodice.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
If the Wicked Witch of the West had ever married, she’d wear comedian Cole Escola’s white Thom Browne skirt suit, which is accessorized with a veiled, broad-brimmed hat and little dog wicker handbasket filled with flowers.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Advertisement
Looking like she was planted and bloomed into existence, Gigi Hadid was one of many celebrities wearing Thom Browne. Hers was a corset-topped confection of white silk moiré edged in black satin and adorned with lush yellow roses and 2.8 million bugle beads. Vogue says the gown will live in Browne’s archive, thus illustrating that today’s red carpet gowns are tomorrow’s museum pieces.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Teyana Taylor, the actor and singer-songwriter who contributed vocals to Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” wears a red-on-red look that could be described similarly. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Maleah Joi Moon, star of Broadway’s Alicia Keys musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” knows how to make an entrance with her Collina Strada gown and its extra-long train. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press )
Fashion designer Christian Cowan and musician Sam Smith wear the same asymmetric closure suit, one white, one black, each fastened with a long-stem rose clasp. Smith adds a sheer skirt over their trousers for extra drama.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
You can count on style icon Sarah Jessica Parker to put the “costume” in costume ball. She looks royal with a Richard Quinn gown puffed to enormous volume with an internal pannier, a golden fascinator, matching Victorian boots and a strand of pearls nearly twice her height.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
With the high collar, thick mustache and single drop earring, it’s tempting to call him Count Strong, but actor Jeremy Strong, pictured here with wife Emma Wall, makes a strong argument for a heavily flowered lapel with his all-white suit ensemble, with contrasting black loafers sans socks.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Emmy winner Keke Palmer goes a little goth with a custom Marc Jacobs gown that features antique beaded embroidery and strands of frayed sequins.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Advertisement
Designer and filmmaker Tom Ford wore a rich red velvet smoking jacket, bright white shirt and deep black smoking pants (yes, they call them that) in grain de poudre by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Colombian singer Karol G summed up several trends with her Marc Jacobs look: nude mesh fabric; corseted top; crystal embellishment; and coordinating crystal-embroidered satin boots.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Rosalía draped a mesh veil over her head to accent her Dior Haute Couture strapless corset that flowed into a long train. The all-black ensemble recalled vintage Dior.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Kim Kardashian has long been credited with bringing back the hourglass figure, and with the extremely cinched waist of her Maison Margiela dress by John Galliano, she took it to extremes.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Designer Willy Chavarria and Saks Chief Executive Marc Metrick show how to wear the latest suit silhouette — wide legs and blocky jackets, accented by their signature lapel corsages.
(Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
The form-fitting white Marni gown Charli XCX wore to intriguing effect showed how a distressed fabric can be sexy and also on theme.
(Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Advertisement
Taika Waititi was in leather neck to toe in a Marni jacket, shirt, tie and pants, cooled with a strand of ice — a yellow diamond Jacob & Co. necklace draped over his tie. Singer-songwriter Rita Ora’s Marni look featured a waterfall of floor-length beads over a nude bodysuit.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph looked regal in a gown of various shades of denim made by Zac Posen, who is the new creative director for the Gap. Newly redheaded, Randolph was a great match for the gown and its full, swirling circle skirt and equally epic cuffs.
(Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Jack Harlow makes a convincing argument for a new tone of tuxedo — dove gray, a signature color of its maker, the house of Dior. (Kevin Mazur / MG24 / Getty Images for the Met Museum / Vogue)
Donald Glover shows how the colors of rich earth — peat moss brown and tan clay — work in a fluid, double-breasted 1990s-style suit with wide trouser legs and the era’s wide tie, all by Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press )
Embroidered all over with a leaf and petal pattern, Emily Ratajkowski’s very sheer, very vintage 2001 Versace gown is one of those items that will likely be retired and become a “sleeping beauty,” that is, nested in storage, too frail to ever be worn again.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Ariana Grande kept it sweet and simple with a corseted Loewe gown with a full, pleated skirt.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Mindy Kaling’s tawny Gaurav Gupta gown with a gazillion gathers and a ginormous back bow makes her look like the fairy godmother we always knew she could be.(John Shearer / WireImage; Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Advertisement
Chloé creative director Chemena Kamali, second from right, attended with some very accomplished models wearing her designs: from left, Zoe Saldana in an ochre lingerie look; Emma Mackey in a ruffled, slit-front gown; Greta Gerwig in a black silk crepe de chine blouse with straight-leg trousers; and Sienna Miller in a white ruffled dress with floral embroidery.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Lana Del Rey rocked the red carpet in an Alexander McQueen gown embellished with stiff, dark brown branches and topped with a headpiece made of mesh draped over antler-like twigs to give a more “sinister” aspect to the gala’s garden theme.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Natasha Poonawalla went with Maison Margiela Artisanal by Galliano for a white foam skirt and bustier wrapped all over with shredded black stockings.
(Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images)
Almost unrecognizable in deep black hair and blunt bangs, Sydney Sweeney nevertheless looked elegant in a frothy blue, off-shoulder Miu Miu dress and DeBeers diamonds. The black elbow gloves cinched the look.
(Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images)
With so many historic, dramatic gowns on display in the Costume Institute’s new exhibit, someone had to reference one. That would be Isabelle Huppert, whose Balenciaga gown is modeled on the 1931 wedding dress known as the Mermaid Bride, by design house Callot Soeurs. The train is more than 14 feet wide and 12 feet long.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Eddie Redmayne has long flirted with his feminine side by wearing sheer and floaty fabrics; he does the same here with a layered look of black and geometric appliqués that resemble insect wings. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press )
Sultry star and Fendi Men’s ambassador Nicholas Galitzine wears, of course, a Fendi black wool fitted jacket with floral embroidery and satin lapels. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press )
Advertisement
In a highly sculptural sheer gown by Loewe, Greta Lee shows how to wear a dramatic neckline that juts in front of her like a wing: She pairs it with a fringed, black pixie cut.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Proof that ascots and top hats have been very much missed in men’s fashion, Barry Keoghan pairs them with a coffee-colored velvet suit in a look that conjures Oliver Twist.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Venus Williams relied on Marc Jacobs to craft her sculptural strapless gown of gold, satin-bonded neoprene, covered all over with round mirrors.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
With a change of makeup and dress, Zendaya made a second appearance on the gala carpet wearing an enormous floral bouquet perched under a winged hat and a rather goth satiny black gown with a dramatic long train.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Serena Williams, wrapped in yards and yards of shiny gold fabric, is like a human trophy in her Balenciaga gown with multiple trains.
