Met Gala 2023 Red Carpet Highlights

This year’s Met Gala carpet was full of tributes to designer Karl Lagerfeld, from the iconic black and white colors, images of him on garments, looks designed by the Kaiser of fashion years ago, and designs inspired by his cat, Choupette.

On the iconic steps of the Met took place on May 1, as every year, the Met Gala 2023 red carpet. This year a tribute to German designer Karl Lagerfeld was held and as part of the celebration the Costume Institute‘s new exhibition, Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,  which pays tribute to the Kaiser of fashion, was inaugurated.

Interview with Penélope Cruz

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, participated this year as co-hostess at this year’s Met Gala and paid tribute to her friend Karl Lagerfeld wearing a Haute Couture Spring Summer 1988 dress that Karl designed for Chanel.

Chanel: Three adjectives to describe Karl Lagerfeld?
Penelope: Genius, unpredictable, fun.

Chanel: Can you tell us about your first meeting with Karl Lagerfeld?
Penélope: The first time I saw Karl was at a Spring-Summer 1999 fashion show, someone introduced us and we greeted each other, that’s when I also met all the Chanel people who, for the most part, are still working for the firm, which is a very good sign. Then I met Karl again in his studio, because there was a look, a wedding dress, that I was going to wear to the Goyas. He gave me a beautiful sketch that he made with my face and I felt very honored and amazed, it was a very special gift for me.

Chanel: What is your best memory with Karl Lagerfeld?

Penélope: The walk we took late at night in Central Park after his last show at the Met, which was precisely the last collection where he was present. We went to the after party together. He seemed very calm and happy. There was something about his energy that day that felt almost childlike. I loved seeing him like that. It was a beautiful evening we shared together.

Chanel: A secret she shared with you that you never revealed until today (it’s about time!)
Penelope: We loved talking about doctors and genetics! That’s one of the things that made us connect.

Interview courtesy of Chanel.

Chanel and its historical dresses

Karl Lagerfeld was creative director of Chanel and left a great legacy in the French firm which is why at this year’s gala, as part of his tribute, several celebrities decided to wear historic and iconic Chanel dresses.

The actress, Nicole Kidman wore the custom dress she wore in the Chanel N°5 advertising campaign directed by Baz Luhrmann in 2004. This is made of pink silk tulle with a long train of 4 meters, is embroidered with 250 pink feathers and over 3000 silver crystals and sequins. 

Singer Dua Lipa wore a long corseted dress in tweed ivory wool from the Haute Couture Fall-Winter 1992 collection worn by Claudia Schiffer for the Chanel carpet.

Actress Margot Robbie, an ambassador for Chanel, wore a black Chanel dress in silk chiffon embellished with clear plastic chains and gold metal, look 62, from the Spring-Summer 1993 Haute Couture.

Model Gisele Bündchen wore an incredible dress in white silk tulle embroidered with vertical stripes of white sequins and a long cape in white silk tulle adorned with feathers and camellias, look 58, from the Alta Costura Spring-Summer 2007 collection.

Look from the past to the now

Singer Jennie, Chanel ambassador, wore an ivory duchess satin bustier dress embellished with a white camellia and black ribbon, look 164, from the Prêt-à-Porter Fall-Winter 1990/1991 collection and actress Kristen Stewart, wore a white denim jacket with a white silk chiffon blouse and black cotton gabardine pants,look 5, from the Cruise 2016/17 collection. 

Hourglass cut out: a sensual and glamorous option.

The dresses with slits cut out are back from the nineties to stay, they are definitely a trend for this 2023. The side cuts at the waist are very flattering when it comes to refine the silhouette thanks to the optical game they create in the central part and are a very sensual and glamorous option.

Camellias were the protagonists

Although for this year’s gala we saw flowers everywhere, camellias were the protagonists, and there is a story behind this flower. Camellias are flowers native to tropical and subtropical regions of Southeast Asia, China and Japan and are an emblem of the French firm Chanel, Coco Chanel was a lover of these flowers and have been part of their collections for years. Several artists including singers, models and actors chose this flower as inspiration for their outfits among them: Rihanna, Liu Wen, Bad Bunny and Olivia Rodrigo.

Pearl: Lagerfeld’s signature luxury gemstone

Pearls are a jewel with a long history and have been used for centuries. German designer Karl Lagerfeld had a fondness for pearls, and they were always present in his collections, whether they were ready-to-wear or haute couture, so the night of the gala at the Met in New York pearls shone everywhere.

Sleeves XL

Sleeves were the star of the most important fashion event. Supermodel Kendall Jenner wore them with a sequin bodi by Marc Jacobs where the sleeves reached the floor and added movement and styling to the outfit. While Cara Delevingne also stood out by reinventing the classic white shirt by Karl Lagerfeld and turning it into a dress with long sleeves that played the role of a cape.

Cara Delevigne wearing Dior, and Kendall Jenner, wearing Jacquemus, Met Gala 2023

The renewed gothic style

The characteristic dark garments, lace, transparencies, chokers with black rhinestones or necklaces with crosses are a trend this 2023 and we saw it in the Fashion trends Horse spring 2023 where it was present on the catwalks along with brands like Dior and Dolce & Gabbana and now we see this style present in the tribute to Karl, by the hand of the singer Billie Eilish, supermodel Gigi Hadid and actress Jenna Ortega..

Creative and symbolic looks.

In tribute to Karl Lagerfeld there are several looks that pay tribute to him and among those are these two that have stood out for their creativity have been that of singer and actor Jeremy Pope who wears a cape with a tail of more than 3 meters long, designed by Balmain with the illustration of the face of the designer and the actress, Lily Collins who wears a dazzling Vera Wang dress with Karl’s name inscribed at the end of the tail.

 

Feline extravagance: a tribute to Choupette

There was much speculation as to whether the German designer’s cat, Choupette, would attend the event, as she had an invitation, but that was not the case. Through her official Instagram account her handlers informed thatshe would not attend the event. Despite not showing up to the event guests like: Jared Leto, Doja Cat and Lil Nas paid tribute to the German designer inspired by his cat Choupette or even going so far as to dress up as her in the case of the actor and singer, Jared Leto..

Jared is known for wearing extravagant outfits to the most important fashion event and this was no exception. The Lil Nas singer also appealed when he showed up covered in stones, silver paint, silver thong and platforms with crystals and pearls, this risky look was designed by Dior Men, under the creative direction of Nicola Formichetti and the makeup was in charge of artist Pat McGrath. On the other hand, the singer Doja Cat wore a dress by Óscar de la Renta, and for the makeup, Ernesto Casillas -her makeup artist- used a prosthesis to simulate amore feline look although seeking to be subtle and pretty.

In short, the Met Gala 2023 was an event full of references to Karl Lagerfeld and his cat Choupette where the celebrities stood out with their incredible looks, tell us which one you liked the most.

Images courtesy of:  Chanel, Vogue, Loewe and Harper’s Bazaar, L’Officiel and Fashionista.