This year’s Met Gala was filled with drama and daring fashion choices. Amidst the controversy of celebrating the life of recently deceased designer Karl Lagerfeld, celebrities made bold choices in both outfits and attendance.
Karl Lagerfeld is known for his career as a designer for Chanel, especially in the 80s and 90s. As those in the fashion world celebrate his decades of influential work, some are calling attention to his many controversial comments. He is incredibly critical of women’s appearances, with many fatphobic and hurtful comments recorded over the years. \
In 2012 he was quoted saying “The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice,” among other comments about women’s bodies.
Additionally, Lagerfeld has made efforts to hide his family’s past as Nazi sympathizers in World War II, as well as made a number of antisemitic and Islamophobic comments. He said in 2017 that “One cannot – even if there are decades between them – kill millions of Jews so you can bring millions of their worst enemies in their place,” referring to Germany’s new Syrian refugee policies that year.
Given the history of Lagerfeld’s bigotry, many of the usual stars chose not to attend this year’s Met Gala. Jameela Jamil is one such example. She called out ‘famous feminists’ in attendance for choosing to celebrate a man who is known to be misogynistic and hypercritical of women.
However, many chose to rebel against the theme choice despite their attendance.
Lagerfeld is famous for saying “Think pink, but don’t wear it,” so many chose to slight him by wearing the bold color on the red carpet. EGOT winner Viola Davis wore it best with a bright pink floor-length dress, topped with feathers for extra pizazz.
Despite the controversy surrounding Lagerfeld many stars chose to uphold tradition and attend the gala. Rather than ranking such varied outfits, analyzing the fashion choices is better suited to superlatives.
Best Dressed Man: Bad Bunny
The popular reggaeton artist Bad Bunny took over the red carpet in a fabulous all-white suit with a long white-rose train. The outfit was clean and stylish without being boring, and fit the theme without glorifying Lagerfeld. Overall, this was one of my favorite looks of the night.
Honorable Mention: Lil Nas X
Best Dressed Woman: Quannah Chasinghorse
Model and activist Quannah Chasinghorse looked stunning in a multi-layered pale pink dress, but what really brought the look together was the embellished latex gloves. She made a splash and protested the theme, choosing to wear pink despite Lagerfeld’s known hatred of the color in fashion.
Honorable Mention: Anne Hathaway
Most Ridiculous: Jared Leto
Leto chose to stick close to the theme, coming dressed in a full-fledged cat costume, paying homage to Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette. Where else but the Met Gala could a giant cat costume be called peak fashion?
Most off-theme: Kylie Jenner
Jenner looked absolutely stunning in a bright red and baby blue by Jean Paul Gaultier, but this outfit neither fit the theme nor directly rebelled against it, but we can’t deny she looks fabulous doing it.
Most on-theme: Cara Delevingne
Delevingne stayed very on-theme in a Lagerfeld-designed outfit, even down to the newly dyed hair. Given the controversial nature of Lagerfeld’s career, this may not be Delevingne’s best move, but the outfit was undeniably unique. Delevinge’s outfit demonstrated the renowned design that placed Lagerfield in the public eye in the first place.
Worst Dressed Man: Pedro Pascal
Despite being the latest heartthrob of our generation, Pascal’s power as the daddy of the internet was not enough to save this outfit. The short tie and chunky boot combo was not his best look, and the outfit was neither on-theme nor an intentional rebellion against Lagerfeld.
Worst Dressed Woman: Doja Cat
Although the dress looks stunning, from the neck up Doja Cat’s outfit can only be described as unsettling. The special effect makeup made it feel more like the musical Cats than the Met Gala, and her meow-filled interview with Emma Chamberlain only added to the confusion with this look. She took a risk, and this time it didn’t pay off.
Worst Dressed Couple: Rihanna and A$AP Rocky
While Rihanna is known for her outlandish Met Gala looks, this one did not quite hit the mark. The rose dome top part of the dress gave it a silly vibe, and the fake eyelashes glued to sunglasses did not help it look any less silly. Meanwhile, A$AP Rocky is wearing a kilt over jeans with about three designer belts stacked on top of each other. This couple has always been daring at the gala, but this time went a bit too far.
Despite the bigotry present in Lagerfeld’s life and career, many stars stuck to tradition and repped fashion’s finest designers, however outlandish the looks might seem to the average individual. There were some real hits and definite misses, but this event will go down in history regardless.
