Met Gala 2023: Jared Leto as Choupette, Rihanna in Valentino, Doja Cat, and more

Rihanna shut down the Met Gala carpet on Monday, rocking a long train gown with white camellias draped over a jacket. Janelle Monae dropped a heavy coat to reveal a transparent cage, and Jeremy Pope walked in a 32-foot hat emblazoned with Karl Lagerfeld’s face.

In the spirit of Lagerfeld himself (he wasn’t often on time), Rihanna and her Valentino Couture hit the carpet to save her fellow A$AP Rocky, who wore a red tartan skirt over crystal-studded jeans, featuring He had a train. My. He showed everyone else well.

Around her neck was a small Bulgari necklace set in Akoya cultured pearls and pearl-sized diamonds.

Lagerfeld was honored at the A-list gala, where a crowd of nearly 400 people dressed in vintage looks from the fashion houses where he worked during a career spanning more than 60 years.

But elegant wasn’t entirely the hallmark of the evening. Jared Leto dressed as Choupette, Lagerfeld’s beloved fluffy cat. Lil Nas X Perfectly Covered in Crystals by Pat McGrath and Dior Men.

Bad Bunny appeared late in head-to-toe dazzling white, along with a long cloak adorned with camellias, a Coco Chanel motif adopted by Lagerfeld. Monáe’s look, which features a black glittery leotard underneath, was created by Thom Browne.

Cardi B first wore pink then switched to a full black ballgown with, you guessed it, Camellia. Above, she said, is “giving Carl the channel and Carl’s house at the same time.” It was a men’s white collared shirt with a black men’s tie. The outfit in Lagerfeld’s honor was done by Chenpeng Studio, an emerging British design house.

“The Met Gala dress code was ‘in honor of Karl,’ and the guests certainly understood the assignment,” said Allison Cohn, deputy fashion news editor for Harper’s Bazaar. “He referenced the many signatures developed by Karl Lagerfeld over his six-decade-long career.”

Many used boucle fabrics (Teyana Taylor’s Thom Browne suit and Anne Hathaway’s Versace safety pin number). Emily Blunt in a Michael Kors blouse and Adut Akech in a Carolina Herrera gown were also decked up in camellias.

Dua Lipa walked in a white Chanel ballgown from the fashion house’s archives, and Nicole Kidman chose a look Lagerfeld created for herself 20 years ago.

And some were bombshells: Serena Williams wore a flapper Gucci look when she announced she was pregnant with her second child.

Lipa, a gala co-chair, wore a Tiffany & Co. diamond around her neck. She called her cream-colored dress by Chanel from 1992 “very, very special” because it’s on her mood board.

Claudia Schiffer wore a gown for her runway debut, although she had a matching hat. Lipa’s necklace included a center diamond of over 200 carats in platinum.

Nicole Kidman said that it was Lagerfeld who ignited her fashion spark. She wore a pale pink gown made by Lagerfeld for a Chanel No. 5 advertisement in which she starred. It is adorned with 3,000 silver crystals for an ad directed by Baz Luhrmann.

“I’m so grateful to be wearing it,” she said. “He was such a part of my life, as was his entire team. He really was a cowboy of sorts in terms of my love of fashion.

Kidman completed her look with Harry Winston diamonds.

“My favorite look was Nicole Kidman’s ethereal feathered sequin Chanel gown. Usually stars wear new clothes straight off the runway or a custom look is commissioned. It was a lovely statement about sustainability, proving that beautifully hand-crafted pieces never go out of style,” Kohn said.

Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian wore pearls in her Schiaparelli look. And Cardi B went big in pink, with a feathered head piece. Brittany Griner wore a warm stone shade in a suit by Calvin Klein with a long jacket, which also outfitted his wife, Cheryl Griner, in a sleek strapless column dress in white onyx.

Many in the crowd counted Lagerfeld as a friend or had worked with him at Chanel, Fendi, Chloé or any of the other fashion houses where he created.

And many of the guests wore black to walk the unusual carpet in a line design. It was a color that Lagerfeld wore almost exclusively. Black and white combos were also plentiful.

Kristen Stewart wore a pair of colors in a suit with a cropped white jacket. And Cara Delevingne channeled her old friend Lagerfeld in a tiny-looking ruffled white shirt with a train down the back. Ruffled shirts were among Lagerfeld’s favourites.

Classic colors weren’t for Viola Davis. She walked in a stunning neon pink strapless gown with long feathers on the bodice.

Fran M. Harris, CEO and founder of the online fashion site The Black Fashion Movement, had one word for Davis: “Gorgeous!”

She called the Versace-created look, inspired by Anne Hathaway’s Chanel but with pins and camellias on the breast, “super cool and a great marriage between the brands.”

Gigi Hadid wore Givenchy in black with feathers, a drop waist and sheer train tulle. It took more than 300 hours to make it. Kendall Jenner was also in black, sans pants. She wore a glittery leotard with long sleeves that have pieces that double as a train. On her feet were chunky, tall black boots, courtesy of Marc Jacobs.

Jenner’s high white collar was a nod to those worn by Lagerfeld. Her hair was in a high ponytail.

Rita Ora was also in black, a stunner in Prabal Gurung’s peekaboo sheer look. It was silk tulle with corset detailing and sexy draping in chiffon. One shoulder was dropped.

Margot Robbie, who stars in this summer’s “Barbie” live-action movie, wore the black Chanel gown that Cindy Crawford first wore on the runway in 1993. Robbie said she was the last Chanel ambassador chosen by Lagerfeld.

“I really feel great in it. It’s an honour,” she said.

The invitation-only gala earned $17.4 million last year for the museum’s Costume Institute, a self-financing department whose budget depends on the gala’s success. This year the cost of participation rose to $300,000 for a table and $50,000 for a ticket.

Guests from fashion, film, music, theatre, sports, technology and social media were asked to dress “in honor of Karl” by gala mastermind Anna Wintour, a close Lagerfeld friend who first attended the event in 1995. Signed and handled it. Hull in 1999.

The party coincides with the Costume Institute’s blockbuster spring exhibit: “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.”

American fashion was vibrant last year. Then there’s the gilded glamor and white tie. Camp was the theme of 2019, considered by the celebrity crowd to be one of the wackiest displays of costume.

Lagerfeld worked for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé, Jean Patou, Balmain, his own brand, and others.

This year’s five hosts include Wintour, as always, and Michaela Cole, longtime Chanel ambassador Penelope Cruz, and recently retired tennis superstar Roger Federer.

Cruz looked like a bride in her white Chanel belted gown with silver detailing from the 1988 spring/summer couture collection.

When asked how he came to co-chair the Met Gala, Federer said it helped to know Wintour. He said it made sense for athletes to be at the gala because they have become a big part of the fashion world in recent years.

“I think sports people have become more and more fashionable,” Federer told the AP. “Nowadays we are lucky to be on the cover more often. Earlier it was always models, good looking people, not athletes.

Fendi, where Lagerfeld worked for more than 20 years, was also represented. Suki Waterhouse wore a 2019 Fendi design by Lagerfeld with delicate flowers and birds on silk tulle and sheer panels.

Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette, was rumored to be involved, but her humans posted on Instagram earlier that day that the 11-year-old cat was living in Paris. Doja Cat’s cat-eared hood over the dazzling white and silver beaded dress was a nod to Oscar de la Renta. He wore prosthetics to give him a cat-like face and claws.

Chloe Fineman carried a cat-shaped bag and Emma Chamberlain wore “Choupette Blue”, a pale blue created by Lagerfeld. James Corden also appeared in the shadows.

As for Leto, he changed his cat costume to a black hooded one.