From co-host Timothée Chalamet sparking fan hysteria with his live-streamed entrance to Kim Kardashian not wanting to be looked at for once, the Met Gala 2021 delivered all of the talking point moments we’ve come to expect from fashion’s biggest night out.
Timothée Chalamet caused a mob scene
Co-host Chalamet was mobbed by fans after live-streaming his arrival, dressed in sweats and Converse. Photo: Getty
Most celebrities make a scene upon their arrival on the red carpet; Timothée Chalamet jumped the gun, live-streaming his stroll up 5th Avenue to the Met with his mysterious artist collaborator JR. Naturally, swarms of fans quickly mobbed the Dune star, who wore Haider Ackermann sweats and Chuck Taylors for the event, creating a scene that brought to mind Beatlemania.
The night’s de facto theme? A celebration of athletic talent
Athletes – including gymnast Simone Biles and the UK’s own Emma Raducanu, fresh from her victory at the US Open – were the stars of the carpet. Photo: Getty
The red carpet proved as much a celebration of American athletes as American fashion. Following the arrival of tennis legend and 2021 co-chair Naomi Osaka, gymnast Nia Dennis kickstarted the night by cartwheeling along the red carpet in her bedazzled Adidas for Stella McCartney jumpsuit, while the Brooklyn United Marching Band played joyfully in the background. Soccer – ahem, football – star Megan Rapinoe kept up the 2019 Met Gala theme of camp in a red-white-and-blue suit from Sergio Hudson, while Ciara honored her husband, American footballer Russell Wilson, by wearing a lime-green NFL-inspired dress by Peter Dundas, complete with a matching football-shaped purse and Wilson’s winning Super Bowl ring. No one, though, could quite compete with Simone Biles, with the Olympian stepping out in an 88-pound dress covered in Swarovski crystals. GOAT, indeed.
This year, guests were torn between baring all and going incognito
Kim Kardashian’s Balenciaga look rendered a make-up artist redundant. Photo: Getty
First up, Gossip Girl’s Evan Mock climbed the Met steps in a look that would surely never pass muster at St Jude’s – a vintage leather mask by Thom Browne that completely hid his face – with Erykah Badu close behind him in a top hat and mesh shield from the brand. It’s Kim Kardashian, though, who really committed to keeping her identity secret (at least for the first 20 seconds she appeared on the red carpet), donning a body suit by Demna Gvasalia and Kanye West that covered her from head to toe. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kendall Jenner put her own spin on the naked dress in a custom Givenchy gown intended to nod to Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, Zoë Kravitz made a strong case for the chainmail G-string in Saint Laurent, and Irina Shayk just about kept her sheer Moschino gown decent with a few carefully placed embroidered flowers.
Stars got political
AOC with Brother Vellies designer Aurora James, the mastermind behind her “Tax the rich” dress. Photo: Getty
Only Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could rock up at the Met Gala in a dress emblazoned with the words “Tax the Rich” writ large across a Brother Vellies dress. (Surprisingly, she left her beloved Telfar bag at home, in spite of the American theme.) “We can never get too comfortable in our seats at the table once they’ve been given,” Aurora James, founder and director of Brother Vellies, told Vogue of collaborating with the Democratic representative on her gown. Fellow congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney, on the other hand, wore a dress with a flowing cape in the Suffragette Movement’s colors, emblazoned with declarations of support for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Emma Raducanu joined Team Chanel
The bright new star of British tennis mingled with Young Hollywood at the Met. Photo: Getty
Fresh from her thrilling victory in the US Open final at New York’s Arthur Ashe stadium, Emma Raducanu’s fairytale week continued at the Met Gala. The tennis star and newly-minted national treasure took up a spot in Team Chanel on the night, joining Young Hollywood’s finest – Lily-Rose Depp, Whitney Peak, Margaret Qualley and Kristen Stewart – for a group photo. Emma fit in perfectly in her black and white separates from Chanel’s Resort 2022 collection.
Emotional support accessories are the new emotional support animal
Frank Ocean’s date for the night was… unexpected. Photo: Getty
Blame nerves about post-pandemic socializing, but an inordinate number of guests arrived at the 2021 Met Gala holding comforting (and/or mildly disturbing) accessories. Popstrel Kim Petras led the charge in a Collina Strada dress fronted by a giant plastic horse. That’s before Frank Ocean showed up with a slime-green robotic baby – imagine a miniaturized Shrek, if you will – and Grimes, naturally, paraded through the crowds with a Dune-inspired sword to match her custom Iris van Herpen gown.
Read Next: Met Gala 2021: All the Best Looks from Fashion’s Biggest Night
Originally published on Vogue.co.uk
