Stars shine at Met Gala, fashion's biggest night

Hollywood, music, sports and fashion’s biggest names gathered at the Met Gala on Monday, led by Beyoncé, Madonna and Nicole Kidman, for the annual fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The theme, “Fashion is Art”, tied to the Costume Institute’s “Costume Art” exhibition, exploring the relationship between clothing and fine art. The event, held each first Monday in May, once again delivered a star-heavy red carpet spectacle.
Beyoncé, a co-chair returning after a decade, arrived late but stole attention in a bejeweled skeleton gown topped with a dramatic feathered coat and headpiece. She was joined by Jay-Z in a tuxedo with tails and their daughter Blue Ivy Carter in a white strapless gown and sparkling heels. Fellow co-chairs Venus Williams and Nicole Kidman opened the night, with Kidman in a shimmering red Chanel column dress with feather cuffs and Williams in a black Swarovski crystal gown with an elaborate neck plate.

Rock and pop royalty followed, including Madonna, Cher and Stevie Nicks alongside newer stars Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat and Tyla. Rihanna and A$AP Rocky made a typically late dramatic entrance. Bad Bunny wore prosthetics and a white wig to imagine himself as an older man, according to Vogue. Doja Cat appeared in a draped latex Saint Laurent gown with a high slit.
Designers Donatella Versace, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Anthony Vaccarello and Haider Ackermann attended, while athletes including Olympic skaters Alysa Liu and Eileen Gu — whose dress featured a built-in bubble maker — joined NFL star Russell Wilson and several basketball players on the carpet. Actress Blake Lively also made a surprise appearance shortly after settling a court case over her film “It Ends with Us”.

The gala raised a record $42 million for the Met’s Costume Institute, surpassing $31 million last year. This year drew controversy over Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos as lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs, prompting boycott calls. One intruder was briefly stopped by security. Wintour defended their involvement, saying they “genuinely care about giving back”. The Met Gala, first organised in 1948 and reshaped by Anna Wintour in the 1990s into a celebrity spectacle, accompanies an exhibition exploring “equivalency” between fashion and art, pairing garments with paintings and sculpture while challenging artistic hierarchies.
Overall, the event reaffirmed its position as fashion’s most influential fundraising night, blending celebrity spectacle, art discourse and global cultural attention on a single red-carpet stage worldwide focus. — AFP