The most memorable Met Gala looks of all time

Rihanna

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1/15

The chart-topping musician, beauty mogul, and national hero of Barbados is not unofficially crowned the “Queen of the Met Gala” without reason. In 2015, Rihanna took to the red carpet donning a larger-than-life gown by couturier Guo Pei, which required an entourage to simply navigate the dress and the star out of a limousine. And just like that, one of the Met Gala’s most memorable moments was born. With all the memes to accompany it too.

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2/15

That’s not the only time RiRi got all the cameras on her on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum either. In 2018, when dressed for the year’s ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’ exhibition, Rihanna arrived in a Popemobile dressed as a remained rendition of the leader of the Holy See, complete with a mitre, chasuble, sceptre, and other papal vestments designed by John Galliano for Maison Margiela.

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3/15

And for her big comeback in 2023, Rihanna arrived fashionably late as the last guest to made it on the red carpet, alongside her beau A$AP Rocky, dressed head-to-toe in white by Maison Valentino. The year honoured the legendary designer Karl Lagerfeld, with an exhibition titled ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’, and Rihanna’s moment—in our opinion—may have been a tribute to Lagerfeld’s penchant to present a bridal look at the finale of his couture shows at CHANEL. Ingenious, iconic, and undeniably regal, it’s apparent that Rihanna knows exactly how to nail her Met Gala assignments.

Lady Gaga

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4/15

The ‘Bad Romance’ singer may have been the perfect Met Gala guest in the year that celebrated all things camp in fashion. Dressed in a hot pink gown with a trailing cape by designer Brandon Maxwell, Gaga’s reportedly 16-minute entrance was a performance that saw the musician revealing look after look after look, as she peeled away the layers on the red carpet’s steps.

Doja Cat

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5/15

There are many ways to unravel a dress code that nods to Karl Lagerfeld. Inspiration can span from his unwavering uniform of black and white, to his gargantuan body of work through the years. But for the ‘Kiss Me More’ singer, she made like her namesake, referenced the designer’s beloved feline Choupette, and appeared as a human cat dressed in Oscar de la Renta instead.

Kendall Jenner

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6/15

Back in 2022, while dressed in an all black gown by Prada, Kendall Jenner arrived unrecognisable sans eyebrows. While the year saw the Met Gala celebrating the ‘Gilded Glamour’ exhibition by the Costume Institute, it remains a mystery if bleached eyebrows was the beauty look du jour back in the late 1800s.

Jared Leto

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7/15

At the 2019 Met Gala, we couldn’t help but wonder: “How’s Jared Leto’s head? Why Jared Leto’s head?” Based on the theme for the year’s ‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’ exhibition, the frontman of 30 Seconds to Mars walked the red carpet in a high-neck gown bedazzled Gucci gown in red while carrying a realistic replica of his own visage on his arms. While the trend of carrying one’s own severed head never quite caught on, the memory of Leto with his definitely did.

 

Kim Kardashian

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8/15

Even when literally covered from head to toe, Kim Kardashian was no anonymous figure on the 2022 Met Gala steps. And in a crowd full of famous faces on the highly photographed evening, Kardashian’s bold and featureless choice courtesy of Balenciaga made her an instant standout.

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9/15

Again in 2023, Kardashian made headlines for bringing a pop culture legend to the Met Gala’s red carpet—the skintight bejewelled gown worn by Marilyn Monroe on the evening she sang ‘Happy Birthday, Mr. President’ to John F. Kennedy in 1962. Fans of the late Hollywood A-List actress later asserted that Kardashian made “permanent damage” to the priceless Tinseltown artefact, to which she responded with a statement that reads, “I’m extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history. I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it, and I won’t be wearing the kind of body makeup I usually do.”

Zendaya

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10/15

Leave it to fashion darling Zendaya and her longtime collaborator, image architect Law Roach, to work their magic with a high fashion moment. In 2019, the Challengers lead actress brought Cinderella to life in a Tommy Hilfiger gown that lit up in an enchanting glow with the wave of a wand. And her choice of accessory on the evening? A minaudière shaped like the Disney Princess’ carriage, of course.

Kylie Jenner

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11/15

The billionaire of the Kardashian-Jenner clan took to the 2022 Met Gala in an ethereal all-white gown complete with a romantically draped bodice and full ruffled skirt with a bridal veil by luxury streetwear label Off-White. The look was also completed with a baseball cap. If any bride needs inspiration on what to wear to a wedding on the sports field, look no further.

Katy Perry

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12/15

It’s a bird! It’s a chandelier! It’s a hamburger! Well, no, it’s actually Katy Perry at the Met Gala. Whether it’s dressing as a Versace angel with wings to match in 2018, to doing double duty as lighting decor and one of America’s signature culinary delights in a single night in 2019, Perry is no wallflower when it comes to her Met Gala appearances.

Blake Lively

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13/15

Blake Lively would know a thing or two about wardrobe reveals on the Met Gala steps. In 2022, the actress, who was a co-chair that year, donned an Atelier Versace gown in rose gold that paid tribute to one of New York City’s most famous landmarks: the Empire State Building. The gown also unfurled to reveal a majestic long train designed with astronomical symbols decorating Grand Central Station, in a blue not dissimilar to the hue of the Statue of Liberty today. To top it off, Lively was also wearing a seven-tier crown that referenced the colossal neoclassical sculpture located on the New York Harbour. Oh, and she made sure to match the carpet on the night too. Brilliant!

Madonna

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14/15

The Queen of Pop left very little to the imagination with a bust and thigh-baring lace number by Givenchy at the Met Gala in 2016, with the theme ‘Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology’. She later stated that the risqué choice was meant to express her sexuality and was meant as a statement on women’s rights.

Fredrik Robertsson

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15/15

The gentleman on the Metropolitan Museum steps dressed in Iris Van Herpen in 2022 was not Jared Leto—a doppelgänger that many have mistaken the Swedish couture client and creative director of Björn Axén for. On the evening, Robertsson appeared otherworldly with Van Herpen’s creation, referencing the year’s ‘Glided Glamour’ theme.

This article was originally published in Harper's Bazaar Singapore.