‘He lived fashion’: Met Gala costume extravaganza inspired by designer Karl Lagerfeld retrospective

Louise Talbot
May 02, 2023, updated May 02, 2023

Hollywood stars, musicians, athletes, politicians and “industry darlings” have arrived to celebrate fashion’s biggest night at the 2023 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This year’s $US50,000 ($75,000) a ticket fundraiser is celebrating the life and work of designer Karl Lagerfeld, with cat suits, feathered trails, wavy hair, prosthetics, odes to Chanel and the 1990s supermodel era carrying the theme of Monday night (US time).

Arriving on the red carpet with her internet entrepreneur husband Alexis Ohanian, 23-time tennis grand slam champion Serena Williams, 41, went one step further and announced she was expecting her second child.

She hinted at the news ahead of their arrival, posting: “Was so excited when Anna Wintour [Vogue editor-in-chief] invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala.”

Williams has a daughter, Alexis, 5.

In an essay for Vogue in 2022, she said one of the reasons for her retirement from professional tennis was they had been unsuccessfully trying to fall pregnant again.

“We recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family,” Williams wrote.

“I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”

The night’s theme paid homage to Lagerfeld, with a retrospective on display in the museum’s Costume Institute – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty – exploring his decades-long creative work.

Lagerfeld had early roles at Jean Patou, Balmain, Fendi and Chloé, and assumed artistic control of Chanel in 1982.

Tweet from @Variety

“He completely revitalised its haute couture and ready-to-wear range,” wrote Vogue on Tuesday.

“Though Lagerfeld himself adhered strictly to a black-and-white palette – monochrome suits, a ponytail and sunglasses became his sartorial signature – Chanel, under his watch, pushed the boundaries of expectation.

“Skirts were slashed to the thigh, camellias adorned bikinis as well as bouclé jackets, and the interlocking Cs became a signifier of taste, to those in (and not in) the know,” it wrote.

This year’s official Met Gala co-hosts are Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Roger Federer, Dua Lipa and Wintour.

Let’s see who nailed the brief.

Doja Cat. Photo: Getty

On Monday’s red carpet, rapper Doja Cat lived up to her reputation for eye-catching and experimental looks in an outfit inspired by Lagerfeld’s beloved pet cat, Choupette.

She wore cat-inspired prosthetics on her face, cat-eye make-up and a diamond hanging on her forehead.

Her silver skin-tight gown by Oscar de la Renta had a feathered train, backless design, and a built-in head covering with cat ears.

“I feel nice. I feel relaxed here. Maybe it’s the beige. I feel very calm. It’s very nice,” she told Vogue, signing off her interview with a soft “miaow”.

Over the years, Kim Kardashian has worn some of the red carpet’s most discussed fashion, not least being last year’s Met Gala when she famously wore Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday” Jean-Louis dress.

This year, the entrepreneur, reality TV star and über-influencer decked herself in 50,000 freshwater pearls, courtesy of Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry, paying homage to the gem that Lagerfeld often used in his work.

The look took a dozen artisans over 1000 hours of work to complete and each strand of pearls was strung and draped to her body.

Kim Kardashian steered clear of wearing the world’s most expensive gown – Monroe’s was valued at $US4.6m. Photo: Getty

English actress (Don’t Worry Darling) Florence Pugh had a buzz cut and wore a headpiece that honoured Lagerfeld’s extravagant runways, which were often made by Phillip Treacy. Photo: Getty

Inside Choupette, who is now seriously famous, is US actor Jared Leto (House of Gucci). Photo: Getty

Emily in Paris‘ Lily Collins looked tres tres chic and honoured Lagerfeld by writing his name on the train of her Vera Wang gown. Photo: Getty

Date night. Yung Miami and Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs, who got a chance to spend time with Lagerfeld when he was designing his own line, Sean John. Photo: Getty

Janelle Monáe (Glass Onion) did one of those Blake Lively-esque gown transformations on the carpet, revealing the conical ensemble. Photo: Getty

Glenn Close wearing a distinctive Erdem Moralıoğlu designer gown, accompanied by the man himself to help with the train. Photo: Getty

Cara Delevingne pays homage to Lagerfeld with silvery blue hair and trademark white shirt. Vogue says she was a close friend and muse, and she admitted she even cried on the way to the party. Photo: Getty

Liu Wen and editor-in-chief of Vogue China, Margaret Zhang. Photo: Getty

Silver spray, silver g-string, silver shoes from rapper Lil Nas X. Photo: Getty

Julia Garner (Ozark), Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing) arrived together to celebrate Lagerfeld. Photo: Getty

Singer Kim Petras, who collaborated with Sam Smith and won a Grammy, is concentrating on walking in platform boots. Photo: Getty

Model Ashley Graham teamed up with British designer Harris Reed, who drew inspiration from the 1980s Chanel Haute Couture: “Together, we’ve created a powerful moment blending Lagerfeld’s grace with Harris Reed’s signature fluidity,” wrote Graham on Instagram. Photo: Getty

Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada) in a flowing hair Lagerfeld tribute, and Jared Leto and the cat again. Photo: Getty

Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) gives a sunglasses nod to Lagerfeld. Photo: Getty

Not sisters, but mother and daughter, Wendi Murdoch and Grace Murdoch. Photo: Getty

Barbie actress and Chanel ambassador, Margot Robbie. Photo: Getty

Jenna Ortega’s (Wednesday) goth-inflected look not only nodded to Wednesday Adamms’ style codes with its schoolgirl bow detail at the neck, but also paid homage to a number of the design signatures of Karl Lagerfeld with its black and white palette, gold chains and pearls, says Vogue. Photo: Getty

American-English actress Sienna Miller wore Gucci Fall Winter 2023 sleeveless black gown with slit details. Photo: Getty

Hugh Jackman, with wife Deborra-Lee Furness, is already bulking up and growing a beard for his next Wolverine incarnation in Deadpool 3. Photo: Getty

US-based Australian actress Nicole Kidman, with director Baz Luhrmann, recycling a Custom Chanel gown from a 2004 photo shoot. Photo: Getty

Sydney Sweeney (The White Lotus) in a blush pink Miu Miu gown. Photo: Getty

Gisele Bündchen in a feathered coat over her white gown, Chanel haute couture spring/summer 2007. Photo: Getty

South Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech is a firm fixture at the Met, and she floated onto the carpet in Manhattan wearing a spectacular tiered Carolina Herrera gown that honoured a man who transformed her career: Karl Lagerfeld. Photo: Getty