On Monday night, the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art were filled with celebrities, fashion insiders, and art lovers, who all donned spectacular looks for the 2024 Met Gala. The buzzy annual event, which takes place every year on the first Monday in May, has long been heralded as fashion’s biggest night and this year’s red carpet definitely made the case for this distinction. With the “Garden of Time” as the gala’s theme, itself inspired by the new Costume Institute exhibit, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” guests came attired in everything from floral ensembles to darkly romantic getups.
Read more: Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 Met Gala
There may be no better example of successfully interpreting the night’s theme than actor and noted fashion icon Zendaya, a co-chair of the night’s festivities, who arrived to the Met Gala red carpet, resplendent in a custom blue and green striped Margiela gown with a matching Philip Treacy fascinator punctuated with a sweeping feather that spoke to the night’s theme perfectly. Her daring look, designed by Margiela creative director, John Galliano, was embellished with bunches of grapes, flowers and birds, a lush nod to the night’s “Garden of Time” theme.
Fellow co-chair Bad Bunny, who was also dressed by Margiela, took a more edgy conceptual approach to the night’s suggested dress code, with a Steampunk-esque top-stitched navy suit with red accents, that he memorably accessorized with a matching statement hat, round sunglasses, and a bouquet of flowers made of the same fabric of his suit. Others took a more literal approach to the night’s garden theme, like influencer Emma Chamberlain, who donned a gothic brown custom Jean Paul Gaultier corset whose lace detailing gave off a thorny effect and Gigi Hadid, whose corseted black and white Thom Browne gown boasted a sweeping train adorned with yellow roses.
Here’s a look at the best (and most outrageous) looks from the Met Gala red carpet.