Fashion's biggest night has officially kicked off in New York City, and the world's biggest celebrities are already showing up and showing out.
The 2024 Met Gala is the one night a year when A-listers and designers team up to celebrate the spring exhibit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute. This year, that means celebrating "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion."
The exhibit spans 400 years of fashion and includes 250 pieces that are so fragile they have to appear in glass "coffins" — à la, sleeping beauties — instead of standing tall on mannequins. But the celebrities donning their interpretation of the corresponding dress code, which is "The Garden of Time," will be the real-life mannequins we'll be judging from home.
Some nail the theme to a T, while others choose not to follow it all. Then there are some whose outfits might necessitate a second look to determine how they even fit — as did this year's theme, which some people found confusing.
So what's everybody wearing on the green-and-white carpet this extravagant night? Here are some of our favorites.
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This year's co-chairs
Per usual, Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief and the Costume Institute trustee, is at the helm of the evening, but she shares hosting duties with four celebrity co-chairs: Zendaya, Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Lopez.
Wintour opted for a floor-length, black, floral-adorned blazer custom-made by Loewe and — of course — her signature bob was her best accessory.
Zendaya, dressed by her longtime stylist Law Roach, stepped out in custom Maison Margiela by John Galliano with a dark, Disney villain vibe for her first Met return in five years. But then...
Z surprised fans with a second outfit towards the end of the evening, trading her hummingbird accessory for some flowers and her Margiela gown for a 1996 Givenchy piece.
Bad Bunny also arrived in Maison Margiela, the Artisanal Collection by John Galliano, with an emphasis on the accessories. He told Vogue that although it was hard to breathe in the ensemble, he was still expecting to have a good time.
Hemsworth went back to the basics in an all-white suit. He told The New York Times the airy fit was "quite nice in this heat." It was around 70 degrees during the carpet.
And Lopez donned custom Schiaparelli couture, with more than 2.5 million silver foil beads across her bodice. She said it took 800 hours of hand embroidery to complete the look.
Vogue's official hosts
Model Ashley Graham, TV personality La La Anthony, actor Gwendoline Christie and social media star/entrepreneur Emma Chamberlain are reporting live from the carpet this year for Vogue.
Graham stepped out in a crystal-adorned Ludovic de Saint Sernin gown, which she says took 500 hours of handwork to complete.
Anthony wore Alexander McQueen, with a rosy nod to the theme's air of nature.
Christie's evil queen-esque look was custom-made by Maison Margiela's John Galliano. She walked in Margiela's show back in January.
In a similar fashion, Chamberlain told reporters her custom Jean Paul Gaultier dress could be described as "decaying." She said it took 640 hours to create.
Emphasis on "The GARDEN of Time"
Multiple celebrities interpreted the theme to be floral-focused, whether it be in their look's title or in wearing the garden themselves.
Mindy Kaling told Vogue that her gown's name is "The Melting Flower of Time," representing a "bud and blossoming flower that is now withering," according to Reuters. The avant-garde look comes from Indian designer Gaurav Gupta.
Supermodel Gigi Hadid needed a couple hands to help fix her Thom Browne floral dress on the carpet, but that was nothing compared to the amount of hands that helped create the dress: Vogue reports the gown took 13,500 hours to complete by 70 stylists.
Colman Domingo carried an accessory straight from the garden: The actor carried calla lilies to complete his black-and-white Willy Chavarria look, with a black fabric rose on his shoulder.
Fashion is an art, right? So why not bring some arts and crafts to the carpet? Actor Rebecca Hall furthered her floral look with painted flowers all over her arms to complement her Danielle Frankel gown.
Another part of every garden is a tree, and actor Taylor Russell joked her dress sprouted from her dream of always wanting to be one. She told Vogue's livestream she chose a wood-like bodice dress from Loewe because "I've always wanted to be a tree, and tonight, that's what I'm trying to do."
All about the elements
Other celebrities nodded to different natural elements beyond the garden, while some highlighted the exhibit’s theme of the fragility of fashion and some of its fabrics.
"Water" singer Tyla brought the other part of the beach with her to her first Met. Glistening, she told Vogue her Balmain gown was made of "sand, basically."
Demi Moore’s gown was all about the material, too. She told Vogue her Queen of Hearts-shaped look from Harris Reed was made from dead stock wallpaper, with its other elements taking up to 6,000 hours of hand embroidery.
Singer Rita Ora, alongside her husband director Taika Waititi, told Vogue she focused on the age of fashion with her look. To do that, she went back in time for each bead on her gown, all dating back to the first and second century B.C.
Amanda Seyfried had one rule for going to the Met: Her look had to be sustainable, and Prada obliged. The actress wore a silver gown the designer made from leftover fabric from its spring 2009 collection.
A little something extra
Maybe their gown or suit itself wasn't the focal point, but a couple of stars added a little extra pizzazz in their own way, either with an eye-catching accessory or by a specific detail you'd have to really look for.
For Lana Del Rey, that little something extra was her headpiece. The branchlike structure draped in tulle was the focal point on top of her Alexander McQueen gown, which was also adorned with branches wrapping around her body.
Kendall Jenner's dress choice was an extra nod to those mannequins we mentioned: She told Vogue her 1999 Givenchy by Alexander McQueen had only been on mannequins until now, making her the "first human" to wear the detail-driven dress.
In sisterly fashion, Kim Kardashian also donned a little something extra with her look: a cardigan by John Galliano. She held it closed on top of her silver artisanal Maison Margiela corset gown.
Though a first look at Lily Gladstone's dress might not garner a second one, knowing the details makes it a standout. Indigenous artist Ataumbi Metals embedded 493 stars into the Gabriela Hearst gown in the shape of a constellation you'd see in the sky of the Great Plains, which made the "Killers of the Flower Moon" star feel like she was "draped in my ancestors."
And it wouldn't be Cardi B if it wasn't a little extra. The rapper had the most help of the evening with eight ushers assisting her move with her huge black tulle dress. She closed out the green-and-white carpet this year.
Met Gala debuts
Besides the fashion, one new and exciting part of each annual Met Gala is seeing who's stepping out on the carpet for the first time. Typically it's those people who had a particularly high year, maybe they're coming off a big movie or made a recent dip into the fashion world.
For Ayo Edebiri, it's the former. Fresh off her award-season sweep for "The Bear," the actor wore a floral, Jonathan Anderson-designed Loewe gown for her first Met Gala, and to that, we say, "Yes, chef!"
Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, stepped out on her first Met carpet wearing a black-and-white floral Oscar de la Renta — a choice reportedly helped by Wintour herself.
Doja Cat dripped in a floor-length T-shirt look for her first Met Gala. The singer appeared to be soaking wet in the see-through fit, complete with mascara running under her eyes.
Pamela Anderson looked ethereal for her first Met Gala in a custom Oscar de la Renta gown. She recently told The New York Times she feels “everything had led me to this pinnacle moment where I get to be at the Met, being respected and accepted by Anna Wintour."
