The 100 most memorable Met Gala gowns of all time
November 8, 2019 | News | No Comments
There’s no red carpet quite like the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, or Met Gala; the culmination of celebrity, designers and fashion fantasy, it’s the most iconic carpet of them all. No arguments.
Since its inception in 1948, the gala, which is held to benefit the museum’s Anna Wintour Costume Center and officially open the annual exhibit put on by the institute, has evolved into the biggest fashion spectacle of the year, in which models, designers and the crème de la crème of Hollywood attempt to outdo each other and themselves year after year.
Above, Doutzen Kroes in Giambattista Valli, 2019
Every memorable theme challenges attendees to bring their A-game and undoubtedly has all guests chanting, ‘What Would Anna Do?’ for months leading up to the big night. Memorable themes of the past include 2008’s Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy and 2018’s Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination – which guests can take quietly literally (Pope Rihanna, anyone?) or approach with creative license.
Above, Kate Moss in Marc Jacobs with the designer, 2009
Some attendees inevitably play it safe on the first Monday in May but those that don’t have earnt themselves a place in the Met Gala Hall of Fame for their daring and delicious on-theme looks.
Safety certainly doesn’t disqualify guests from making Vogue Australia’s list of the 100 most memorable Met Gala gowns of all time. Take Rihanna for example, whose 2014 white two-piece Stella McCartney number with diamond choker for the opening of the Charles James: Beyond Fashion exhibit, was a triumph in simplicity and sex appeal. Fast forward to 2015 however and Rihanna stepped out on to the Met red carpet in a golden yellow empress cape from Chinese designer Guo Pei (above) which reportedly weighs 25 kgs and features a 16ft train and over 50,000 hours’ worth of hand embroidery that required the help of multiple men to manoeuver.
The piece reportedly took two years to make but took only seconds to transform Rihanna from well-dressed pop icon into a fashion authority. The meme-worthy gown garnered attention across the globe boosting the Met Gala’s profile as well as Rihanna’s. Now, Riri, it appears, makes it her mission to blow us away with her ensembles stepping out in a bubbly red Comme des Garçons look in 2017 (Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between) and her aforementioned papal power move in 2018.
It’s not just Rihanna the crowds eagerly await on the red carpet though. Sarah Jessica Parker consistently turns heads on the carpet and is sorely missed when she skips the event. A particularly triumphant move was her tartan Alexander McQueen gown in 2006, an especially potent moment given the actor took the designer as her date in matching plaid and both were so perfectly on theme for the AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion exhibit.
Other notable standouts over the years include Kate Moss in a silvery Marc Jacobs mini with matching turban, the Olsen twins’ (t)winning vintage moments, Emma Watson’s green carpet Calvin Klein in 2016, Katy Perry’s six-foot angel wings from Versace and anything Blake Lively choses to do, including taking Karl Lagerfeld as a date in 2011.
As we prepare for the 2020 Met Gala on May 4, 2020 (May 5 for those in Australia) and the lucky guests finalise their gowns, scroll on to see the 100 most iconic moments from Met Gala history in preparation.
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Bella Hadid in Alexander Wang, 2017
Sofia Coppola and Marc Jacobs in Marc Jacobs, 2013
Ashley Olsen in Dior, 2013
Sienna Miller and Christopher Bailey in Burberry, 2006
Zendaya in Dolce & Gabbana, 2017
Claire Danes in Zac Posen, 2016
Karl Lagerfeld and Blake Lively in Chanel, 2011
Emma Stone in Thakoon, 2014
Taylor Swift in Oscar de La Renta, 2014
Miranda Kerr in Michael Kors, 2013
Katy Perry in Maison Margiela, 2017
Nicole Kidmann in Gucci, 2003
Beyoncé in Givenchy, 2015
Blake Lively in Versace, 2018
Kate Bosworth in Stella McCartney, 2014
Blake Lively in Gucci, 2013
Gigi Hadid in Diane von Furstenberg, 2015
Beyonce in Givenchy, 2013
Rihanna in Stella McCartney, 2014
Arizona Muse in Ralph & Russo Couture, 2014
Lupita Nyong’o in Prada, 2014
Gisele Bundchen in Balenciaga, 2014
Mary-Kate Olsen in vintage Ferre and Ashley Olsen in vintage Chanel, 2014
Rihanna in Comme des Garçons, 2017
Sarah Jessica Parker in Alexander McQueen, 2006
Cara Delevingne in Chanel, 2017
Selena Gomez in Vera Wang, 2015
Solange Knowles in Giles Deacon, 2015
Emma Watson in Calvin Klein, 2016
Reese Witherspoon in Stella McCartney, 2014
Cate Blanchett in Balenciaga, 2007
Chloë Sevigny in J.W Anderson, 2015
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Atelier Versace, 2015
Sarah Jessica Parker in Oscar de La Renta, 2014
Kendall Jenner in La Perla, 2017
Nicole Richie in Donna Karen, 2014
Blake Lively in Gucci, 2014
Gisele Bundchen in Dolce and Gabbana, 2003
Miley Cyrus in Marc Jacobs, 2013
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Gucci, 2013
Emma Watson in Prabal Gurung, 2013
Katy Perry in Versace, 2018
Alexa Chung in Erdem, 2013
Rooney Mara in Givenchy, 2013
Jennifer Lawrence in Dior, 2013
Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney, 2013
Selena Gomez in Diane von Furstenberg, 2014
Karlie Kloss in Oscar de La Renta, 2014
Gisele Bundchen in Alexander McQueen, 2011
Beyonce in Givenchy, 2014
Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West in Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, 2013
Anne Hathaway in Calvin Klein, 2014
Charlize Theron in Dior, 2014
Camilla Belle in Jean Paul Gaultier, 2007
Anne Hathway in Ralph Lauren, 2015
Oscar de la Renta and Oprah Winfrey in Oscar de La Renta, 2010
Anna Wintour in Chanel, 2015
Uma Thurman in Atelier Versace, 2014
Jessica Chastain in Givenchy, 2015
Behati Prinsloo in Tommy Hilfiger, 2015
Kendall Jenner in Calvin Klein Collection, 2015
Imogen Poots in Alberta Ferretti, 2015
Rihanna in Maison Margiela, 2018
Cholë Sevigny in Prozena Schouler, 2010
Jennifer Lopez in Atelier Versace, 2015
Zendaya in Fausto Puglisi, 2015
David Beckham and Victoria Beckham in Giorgio Armani, 2008
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen both in Diane von Furstenberg, 2008
Eva Longoria in Marchesa, 2008
Jessica Biel in Versace, 2009
Christina Ricci in Zac Posen, 2011
Gwyneth Paltrow in Stella McCartney, 2011
Carey Mulligan in Prada, 2012
Cardi B in Moschino, 2018
Amber Heard in Zac Posen, 2012
Sofia Vergara in Marchesa, 2012
Kim Kardashian West in Mugler, 2019
Emma Stone in Lanvin, 2012
Zendaya in Versace, 2018
Florence Welch in Alexander McQueen, 2012
Gwyneth Paltrow in Prada, 2010
Nina Dobrev in Donna Karen Atelier, 2012
Solange Knowles in Iris Van Herpen, 2018
Karolina Kurkova in Rachael Zoe, 2012
Anna Wintour in Chanel, 2013
Kerry Washington in Prada, 2015
Zoe Saldana in Calvin Klein Collection, 2010
Sarah Jessica Parker in Dolce & Gabbana, 2018
Kylie and Kendall Jenner both in Versace, 2019
Cara Delevingne in Dior, 2018
Doutzen Kroes in Zac Posen, 2010
Marion Cotillard in Dior, 2010
Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg in Diane von Furstenberg, 2010
Diane Kruger in Calvin Klein Collection, 2010
Linda Evangelista in Marchesa, 2013
Leelee Sobieski in Christian Dior Couture, 2013
Karolina Kurkova in Marchesa, 2014
