These are the stories, concepts, and work behind the fashion ensembles we can’t stop thinking about.
The first Monday in May has come and gone, but these Met Gala fashion statements are still the talk of the town. Let’s take a closer look at the inspiration behind these looks and the actual work that went into their creation.
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Elle Fanning Channels Sleeping Beauty
Elle Fanning stepped onto the red carpet appearing like a delicate glass statue. Designed by Balmain, Fanning said that they were inspired by the Met Gala exhibit’s theme Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. “I played Sleeping Beauty in Maleficent so I was like ‘Gosh, well I have to pay homage to her a little bit,’” she told Emma Chamberlain in an interview for Vogue.
Parts of the dress were made with four layers of resin, giving a translucent and more structural look. A pair of birds adorn her off-shoulder sleeves, creating an illusion that the woodland creatures are dressing her or holding up the dress. The look is complemented by Cartier earrings, bracelets, and rings.
Fanning’s make-up artist, Erin Ayanian Monroe, was inspired by the dress’ glistening quality and wanted her skin to mimic it. The rest of Fanning’s make-up was kept relatively simple, with rosy eyes, cheeks, and lips.
Tyla’s Sands of Time
Tapping into the red carpet’s theme, “Garden of Time,” Balmain chose to focus on the time aspect and dressed Tyla in a gown that they covered in sand. Her “handbag” was an hourglass, emphasizing the concept.
“Layers of sand and micro-crystals were meticulously applied by hand to a fabric mold cast of the star’s body, creating the illusion of raw sculpted materials,” the brand stated on social media. Paired with gold jewelry and crystals, the singer even had a dusting of sand-like glitter on her shoulder and hand.
As the gown was quite stiff, Tyla had trouble climbing the steps up the Met. After she had to be carried a part of the way, Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing made the executive decision to cut off the bottom of the dress, an “improvised edit” as the brand said.
Jessica Biel’s Salt Bath
In preparation for her Met Gala appearance, Jessica Biel took to TikTok to share her unconventional nighttime routine. Showing 20 pounds of pure Epsom salt, the actress prepared a tub full of piping hot water and the bath salt.
In the video, she explained that she soaks in the water for 30 minutes, drinks plenty of water after, then retires to bed early. According to the Cleveland Health Clinic, 1.25 cups of Epsom salt in a warm bath is enough to provide stress relief, ease muscle pain, and reduce inflammation.
The next day, Biel attended her first Met Gala in 11 years. On Instagram, she also gave a shout out to her team, showing the behind the scenes process of how they got her ready for the event. She embodied the garden theme in a watermelon silk faille gown from Tamara Ralph’s Spring-Summer 2024 collection. According to the brand, the feather and crystal-embellished dress took 320 hours to make.
Taylor Russell’s Molded Corset
Actress Taylor Russell made a statement at her first Met Gala in bespoke Loewe. The fashion house designed a high-neck corset that was 3D molded to fit her body perfectly. Then, using a technique called hydro dipping or water transfer printing, they created a trompe l’oeil (optical illusion) effect that made the bodice appear like wood. Loewe even posted videos and photos of the process on social media.
The design also had motif details of vines, leaves, flowers, and birds. “Playing with the senses is central to the experience of the exhibition, and we play similar tricks with trompe l’oeil in collections at Loewe, blurring the line between what’s real or surreal, what’s natural or unnatural,” designer Jonathan Anderson told Vogue.
Russell’s white silk crepe skirt draped along her waist and featured a thigh-high slit. She wore minimal jewelry—just earrings and a ring—while she slicked her hair back into a bun, giving full attention to her gown.
Demi Moore’s Vintage Wallpaper Dress
Demi Moore attended the Met Gala in a dress created using vintage archival wallpaper. According to designer Harris Reed, it all started from the Cartier necklace Moore was to wear at the event. She was the first person to wear the brand’s High Jewelry collection, Nature Sauvage, namely the necklace and earrings set, the Chloris.
Reed also said that other pieces of the dress took 5,000 to 6,000 hours worth of hand-embroidery. “To be able to take old wallpaper and soak it and repurpose it onto these pieces has been such a treat, to play with something so delicate and fragile and give it a second life,” he wrote on Instagram.
The designer accompanied Moore during the event, complementing her look with his own thorns and vines instead of blooms. They also seemed to have the time of their lives even before the gala. The actress posted a behind the scenes look of their preparation while they sang, danced, and posed to their hearts’ content.
Colman Domingo Honors Chadwick Boseman and André Leon Talley
Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo opened up about how his Met Gala look was a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and André Leon Talley. Boseman sadly passed away in 2020, while Talley died in 2022.
In an interview with E! he said that his white cape was a reference to both individuals, who also chose to wear capes at the Met Gala. “Everything I do, I feel like it’s gotta be for the culture. It’s gotta be more than just for me,” he explained. “I wanted to honor these brothers who were here before me as well.”
This year marked Domingo’s first Met Gala appearance. Along with the cape, he wore a black-and-white oversized Willy Chavarria suit. He also carried a bouquet of white flowers wrapped in black satin and adorned his ears, wrists, and fingers with David Yurman jewelry and an IWC Schaffhausen watch.
Lily Gladstone’s Starry Gown
In keeping with her own theme of spotlighting Indigenous fashion designers, Lily Gladstone collaborated with jeweler and metalsmith artist Keri Ataumbi and Gabriela Hearst on her Met Gala dress. Ataumbi hand-embroidered the black silk dress with stars made from recycled silver and glass beads.
Ataumbi arranged the nearly 500 stars into nine constellations, as they would appear from the Great Plains. “Since time immemorial, Kiowa, Blackfeet, and other Plains people have always said we come from the stars, and it is where we return to join our ancestors. It is a tapestry of time, under the veil of night,” Gladstone told Vogue.
To map out the constellations, the designers looked for an image of the Great Plains sky during the summer solstice last year. After printing it out, they laid it on top of a form and marked each constellation. Completing the look, Ataumbi also created a custom hair piece, diamond ring set, and earrings.
Lewis Hamilton’s The Gardener
In preparation for the Met Gala, Lewis Hamilton did plenty of research on the theme. This led him to learning about an 18th-century gardener named John Ystumllyn, the first Black gardener in Wales. “Through adversity, he really triumphed. And so that’s really where the inspiration comes from,” the racing driver told Vogue.
Inside the Burberry suit, there’s also a poem titled “The Gardener” by Alex Wharton, a Black writer from England. Hamilton said he found the poem and brought it to chief creative officer Daniel Lee. The designer and his team gladly incorporated it into the look.
Hamilton also explained how the thorns in his necklace represented the pain during the slave trade years. According to his stylist, Eric McNeal, the suit’s floral motifs symbolized pre-Civil War African culture and was “a tribute to resilience and heritage.”
Banner image via Instagram @ellefanning.
