Kim Kardashian To Rihanna: Stars Who Turned Heads At Met Gala Over the Years
Met Gala became a themed event in 1973, with its first theme being a Cristóbal Balenciaga retrospective.
The Met Gala, also known as “fashion’s biggest night,” is an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in Manhattan, USA. The fundraiser has grown exponentially ever since it first started in 1948. Met Gala became a themed event in 1973, with its first theme being a Cristóbal Balenciaga retrospective. Every year on the first Monday of May, some of the biggest names in fashion, entertainment and business pose at the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in elaborate outfits.
This year, the Met Gala will take place on May 6, with the theme Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. As we anticipate this year’s Met Gala, here is a look back at five of the most iconic Met looks from recent years:
Rihanna, 2018
Rihanna ruled over the Met Gala red carpet as she stepped out in a rhinestone-encrusted minidress paired with a matching hat and coat. Her look, based on the theme Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, was created by John Galliano for Maison Margiela.
Katy Perry, 2019
Popstar Katy Perry shined at the 2019 Met Gala as she wore a Moschino dress that was decked with layers of candles. She completed her look with a chandelier headdress. When she was asked how she would sit in her dress, Perry said, “You don’t sit down at the Met.” The theme for 2019 was Camp: Notes on Fashion.
Kim Kardashian, 2021
Kim Kardashian created a meme-worthy moment in her all-black Balenciaga spandex look that covered her from head to toe. The avant-garde look was made for the theme, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.
Blake Lively, 2022
Blake Lively gave a magical fashion moment on the Met Gala red carpet in a flowing Atelier Versace gown which was inspired by the Statue of Liberty and its slow oxidation. As she walked up the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the bow on her rose-gold skirt untied and revealed a light blue skirt. The theme for this year was In America: An Anthology of Fashion.
Doja Cat, 2023
Rapper Doja Cat made her Met Gala debut in 2023 when the theme was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. The Grammy-winning rapper paid homage to the legendary designer by dressing up as his pet cat Choupette in a white bejeweled Oscar de La Renta dress that came with a cat-eared head cover. For make-up, she chose prosthetics as she looked like a literal cat.